Ensign: Firehead
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 11 December 2015
Today I am forty-four years old.
Or as I would render it in posts I have written before about others' birthdays, I am ready to begin my forty-fifth orbit around the sun. I don't feel any different; that is, other than now wearing bifocals and using the bathroom way more often than I would like, and other than the people I have met and the books I have read, I AM the same person whose devotion you read last week -- if that's all you read -- or whose post you possibly saw a few minutes ago.
A friend of mine whom I'd known since fifth grade and graduated high school with and met again on Facebook -- seems that and other social media sites are how a lot of us meet and reconnect with people we knew in school these days, but I digress -- I first met when I was in band for a year and (tried to) play the trumpet. It didn't come off too well, and I looked so flustered playing it (and I must have in a few other ways in school) that his nickname for me was "Firehead."
Hence today's title.
Pretty soon I didn't get called that anymore, and Chip and I actually settled it without the counseling and anti-bullying ... pardon me, crap that today's school age children seem to be portrayed as required because we dare not offend their "delicate" sensibilities. But again I digress. Whenever fire is referred to in Scripture, it is a sign of the presence of God entering human experience, from the burning bush speaking to Moses in Exodus 3 to the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself in Acts 2 with the apostles.
There are many others, but my point today is that culturally we tend to associate fire and its attendant heat with anger and its attendant rage. And the older we get, the more we can get set in the pattern of our fire, our anger, our righteous indignation, making us lash out at the slightest offense. When you're a parent, you especially get schooled in this -- sometimes several times a day. I really have to wonder at God's patience with us especially when we do what makes Him angry.
I expect you wonder at that too, but today I look at it from my point of view.
I really have to wonder and be thankful that I haven't been wiped out for that because I'm a sinner. That's it. Jeremiah 10:24 comes to mind: "O LORD, correct me, but with judgment, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing." And it's not enough to just pour water on the fire -- maybe that works when it's small, but with a forest or kitchen or gas fire, it's way more effective to smother it with a retardant foam or other substance and take away the air it needs to burn instantly.
Our willfulness to defy God, our sin against God, our active separation from God takes more to overcome that our just saying "I'm following God now". In fact, you and I by ourselves cannot overcome it -- if we couldn't, there would be no need for the grace (the unmerited favor) of God through His Son. In two weeks we celebrate the birth of Jesus into the world, THE sign of God entering the human experience in the flesh. (Or should that be "in the Flesh"?)
If we want to catch fire for God, we MUST let God Himself light the spark within us.
David
P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you and I pray I am encouraging. If you find me not so or just want me to go away, please do let me know -- thank you!
Thank You, Lord, that we are able to come to You in our praise and prayer and also that You have promised to provide for all our needs according to Your riches in glory, even when we don't know what to ask for sometimes. Please, Lord, help me -- help us -- to pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides and all over the world.
Thank You, Lord, for each of us and all those in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You, Lord, for the opportunities we are given along with the promise of new life through You. And may we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen and amen,
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 11 December 2015
Today I am forty-four years old.
Or as I would render it in posts I have written before about others' birthdays, I am ready to begin my forty-fifth orbit around the sun. I don't feel any different; that is, other than now wearing bifocals and using the bathroom way more often than I would like, and other than the people I have met and the books I have read, I AM the same person whose devotion you read last week -- if that's all you read -- or whose post you possibly saw a few minutes ago.
A friend of mine whom I'd known since fifth grade and graduated high school with and met again on Facebook -- seems that and other social media sites are how a lot of us meet and reconnect with people we knew in school these days, but I digress -- I first met when I was in band for a year and (tried to) play the trumpet. It didn't come off too well, and I looked so flustered playing it (and I must have in a few other ways in school) that his nickname for me was "Firehead."
Hence today's title.
Pretty soon I didn't get called that anymore, and Chip and I actually settled it without the counseling and anti-bullying ... pardon me, crap that today's school age children seem to be portrayed as required because we dare not offend their "delicate" sensibilities. But again I digress. Whenever fire is referred to in Scripture, it is a sign of the presence of God entering human experience, from the burning bush speaking to Moses in Exodus 3 to the Holy Spirit manifesting Himself in Acts 2 with the apostles.
There are many others, but my point today is that culturally we tend to associate fire and its attendant heat with anger and its attendant rage. And the older we get, the more we can get set in the pattern of our fire, our anger, our righteous indignation, making us lash out at the slightest offense. When you're a parent, you especially get schooled in this -- sometimes several times a day. I really have to wonder at God's patience with us especially when we do what makes Him angry.
I expect you wonder at that too, but today I look at it from my point of view.
I really have to wonder and be thankful that I haven't been wiped out for that because I'm a sinner. That's it. Jeremiah 10:24 comes to mind: "O LORD, correct me, but with judgment, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing." And it's not enough to just pour water on the fire -- maybe that works when it's small, but with a forest or kitchen or gas fire, it's way more effective to smother it with a retardant foam or other substance and take away the air it needs to burn instantly.
Our willfulness to defy God, our sin against God, our active separation from God takes more to overcome that our just saying "I'm following God now". In fact, you and I by ourselves cannot overcome it -- if we couldn't, there would be no need for the grace (the unmerited favor) of God through His Son. In two weeks we celebrate the birth of Jesus into the world, THE sign of God entering the human experience in the flesh. (Or should that be "in the Flesh"?)
If we want to catch fire for God, we MUST let God Himself light the spark within us.
David
P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you and I pray I am encouraging. If you find me not so or just want me to go away, please do let me know -- thank you!
Thank You, Lord, that we are able to come to You in our praise and prayer and also that You have promised to provide for all our needs according to Your riches in glory, even when we don't know what to ask for sometimes. Please, Lord, help me -- help us -- to pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides and all over the world.
Thank You, Lord, for each of us and all those in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You, Lord, for the opportunities we are given along with the promise of new life through You. And may we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen and amen,
Comments
Post a Comment