Focus passage: Hebrews 12:29
Read: 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; 1 Corinthians 3; Malachi 3
My family and I came home the other day to find out that we had no heat…we had run out of oil. Twenty degrees outside, maybe fifty inside, and we had to wait twenty four hours to get the oil delivered. Thankfully, we had a working fireplace in our living room and a great deal of wood to burn in our garage. We decided to make it a family campout in the living room. So we started a fire, raised the temperature and bunked out in the living room.
Honestly, I slept horribly. I was so focused on keeping the family warm. I was amazed at how quickly the wood burned in the fire…every 45 minutes another piece had to be added. This of course doesn’t make for a restful night. At one point, I sat there by the fire and watched in amazement that the fire was burning through the wood so rapidly but wasn’t burning the fireplace insert…at that moment it hit me…it all comes down to the substance of the material.
It was a great reminder of the picture painted of Christ in Hebrews 12. God is a consuming fire. A fire that will consume the substance unrelated to Him. What will be burned away and what will remain for His glory?
1. What amazes you most about fire? How does this description paint a clearer picture of the Lord?
2. How does the fact that God is a consuming fire affect your worship?
3. It’s interesting to note the connection between consuming fire and judgment. How does this fit the context of Hebrews 12? Why end this section referencing judgment?
What amazes me about fire is that I can't stop starting at it! It draws you in. The way the fire dances, the warmth, the colors. There is nothing like it. To spend time and worship like Moses and come away glowing that is my desire....
ReplyDeleteKelly