One of the highlights of a camping trip is making a camp fire. There's just something about having a fire in the evening or night. Everybody wants to gather around it and there are usually s'mores or hot dogs on sticks that get put in. Or you just stare at it and enjoy the crackling sounds while watching the flames. Fire is fascinating and mesmerizing. It attracts us. Once you get the campfire going you will attract everybody in the group to get around it.
Okay maybe you can see where I'm going with this. I'm going to talk briefly about fire. It is attractive as well as many other things such as a purifier, and light producer. The word of God speaks of fire often in reference to God and to the Holy Spirit and even to Jesus. There are many scriptures that relate fire to God. One example in particular is when Moses saw the burning bush. He saw a phenomenon on the mountain which was the burning bush and became very curious to the point of approaching it to see what it was. The fire did not consume the bush. But it did attract Moses.
In a similar way God wants to kindle a fire inside of us. Actually, when Jesus comes into our life he starts a fire. That fire in part describes a passion that you and I have for seeking after the Lord. It is the drive that's inside of us that keeps us going after Him and being faithful to Him. Of course many of us know what it feels like to lose the fire or for it to go out altogether. It is important to maintain the fire and to feed it in order for it to grow inside of us. The more you neglect it, the more it will cool and eventually go out.
Now if fire attracts then it also stands to reason that if you have a fire inside of you others will be attracted to the light and warmth of it. I think that is why we like to be around passionate people. They have something that we want. Elijah the prophet said to the prophets of Baal that the God who answers by fire would be the true God. In that story when Elijah finally called fire down from heaven to consume the offering, immediately all of the people present fell down and worshiped the true God. They were not only attracted to the fire, but it got their attention in a big way. It will do the same today. People will go where the fire is burning.
Keep the fires burning. Those were the instructions to the priests in the Old Testament. They were to never let the fire of the burnt offering go out. They were to keep it going perpetually. The only thing they were asked to do besides keeping the fire going was to take out the ashes. In the same way. We've got to remove the ashes from our life and keep the fire burning hot. We have to remove the dross, sin, things that hinder our relationship with God and with others. Let the fire burn in your life and don't forget to take out the ashes.
