Fire

When was the last time you sat beside a fire, alone, and able to think and meditate? The previous home owners left me a gift of numerous piles of dead branches all over the property. I guess they didn’t have time to burn anything but I still would label their actions a gift because they gave me plenty of reason to clear away brush piles and, in the process, burn.  There is something mesmerizing (and therapeutic) about sitting next to a fire and watching it reduce large masses to smoldering ashes. No branch escapes. All that feel the hot fury of flame are engulfed and reduced to residue. 

As I sit and look at the cackling flames beside me I’m glad for the opportunity to reflect and simmer on thoughts that needed attention. It seems to me that with increasing age fewer things are truly important but those fewer things seem more weighted than ever. 

Learning. Fire facilitates wisdom. If you touch it you won’t forget and make that mistake again. If you ignore it and fail to feed it, surely it will die. If you pour gas on it you are likely to be badly burned. If you build it on a windy day it quickly grows out of control—sparks flying everywhere. If you feed it the wrong fuel your neighbors will not be happy. Life is about learning. When we stop being observant, discerning, asking questions and seeking answers we miss out on the splendor of living. 

Love. Fire brings warmth and it reminds me of love. Without love life is a miserable journey. Love takes work and means not taking people for granted or letting relationships grow cold. Do you notice how much it means when someone takes the time to be a fan and to cheer you on, to lift your spirits because they love you? Affirmation is the secret sauce of love—in word and in deed. God is so amazing at this.  He didn’t just make us, He loves and affirms us. Love is sitting around the fire and toasting marshmallows amidst laughter and storytelling.

Light. The darker it gets the more flames stand out in their dancing brilliance.  How many times have you tripped, stubbed a toe or thumped a shin running into something at night because the lights were off? I live in the light and I am a light—how thankful I am that this is true. Darkness is the absence of light. The gospel is an incredibly important message of light that gives people hope and a future. It must not be set aside, ignored or forgotten.
            
Leadership. Fire is bold, sometimes angry, and unafraid. It doesn’t complain about too much wood to eat. It is not intimidated by hard, dense, soft wood or gnarly vines. It may seem to be asleep but put something next to its coals and it roars to life—thrilled by new opportunity.  We live in an age of fire extinguishers—leaders are terminated, castigated and disdained simply for holding to virtue, blazing for truth, expressing heart-felt convictions, or daring to debate. I want to be a strong leader not a muted scarecrow. I want to raise up leaders who make a difference because their internal fire burns hot!
            
​While most of the 450+ references to fire in the Bible are negative in context, note how God is identified positively with fire.  Something to think about around a campfire . . . in reveration.
                        
Meditation
Daniel 7:9-10--As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white like snow, and the hair of His head like whitest wool. His throne was flaming fire; its wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands served Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was convened,
and the books were opened.
 
Inspiration
Christians are like coals of fire. Together they glow; apart they grow cold—C.S Lewis