A Fire or a Flame

Can we be casual in the work of God -- casual when the house is on fire, and people in danger of being burned?  Duncan Campbell

Are you a fire or a flame?  A few months ago I was driving down Hwy 190 outside of Dallas and I looked over and I saw a flickering flame.  For those of you who have never been on Hwy 190, it was built in the last 10 years so there is a lot of empty space near the freeway.  By empty space I mean there is a lot of space where there are no houses or lights and only trees.  So I look across this open space and I see a flame burning. 

 

It looked like a flame burning out of the top of a house because it was behind some trees and about a mile away so I couldn’t exactly tell what it was but I thought it was a house on fire.  I almost called 911.  The only thing that stopped me was that I couldn’t tell them where this flame was or an address. 

Well as it turns out I am thankful I didn’t call anyone.  The next day I drove along the same stretch of highway and that flame was still burning the same as it was the day before.  So then I was curious to know what it was.  I finally figured it out in the light of day. The flame was coming from a landfill.  You know those gas flares that they install to release the methane gas created by trash in landfills.  In this part of Texas the land is often flat with no hills and valleys except for our landfills.  Sometimes a landfill is the only hill you will see for miles. 

Every day I drive this same stretch of highway and see that flame it reminds me of the flame that is in us.  If we believe in God, we have a flame in us. Before I came to understand Who God really is, I had a flame burning very much like the one at the landfill.  That flame stayed the same every day.  It didn’t get larger or smaller, it just stayed the same size.  Our life as a Christian can be the same way.  If we don’t meditate on God’s Word and fill our hearts with what is important to Him, we will never see our flame turn into a fire.  It is always the biggest blaze that draws the most people to it.  When our heart is set on fire by God to bring others to Him, there is nothing that can stop it. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my Christian life has often been more like a candle burning than a full blown blaze.  If I am passionate about saving others, then my life should be a brightly burning fire that draws others to You because of the fire in me.  Give me a love for You that takes priority over anything else in my life.

Scripture:  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.  If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.  Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.  1 Corinthians 3:9-17