Fire!

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Margaret

Back when I was a child, school teachers taught us about the origin of fire and how cave men (who descended from apes) figured out how to rub sticks together to make it. Eventually they used fire to stay warm, roast meat, light darkness, and in other ways make life better.

The Bible taught that the first people, Adam and Eve, didn’t descend from apes at all but were created by God. Most likely they were given a knowledge of tools and, through God’s instruction, knew what fire was and how to start one. I’m not sure they had much use for it at first, though, since Eden’s climate was perfect. (They were happily naked, and extra warmth apparently wasn’t needed.) As for cooking, fresh fruits and vegetables were delectable without being roasted, so meal prep didn’t need fire, either.

Once sin occurred, however, fire came in handy. Animal sacrifice became the norm, necessitating burnt offerings. And since they’d been given permission to eat meat by that time, they also needed fire to cook it.

As I’m writing this, I’m appreciating fire in a different way, enjoying the dancing flames in our fireplace. They’re warming the room and creating a lovely ambiance. But fire can also get out of control, doing major damage to people, places, and things.

Last weekend we used fire in a Christmas season tradition when we burned our tree. The children gingerly extracted ornaments through prickly branches while Hans and I removed the lights. When the “snippers” and a saw came out, small fry fascination grew. And when Hans lit the heap of branches he’d stuffed into the fireplace, the kids went speechless.

A couple of times, as fiery branches toppled out onto the hearth, Hans and I had to move fast to regain control. But all in all it was a spectacular display.

Fire produces high heat, and high heat can do wonderful things: sterilize a needle, bake a chicken, light a scented candle, power a furnace, or roast a marshmallow. But like all positive things, if allowed to escalate, it can hurt and destroy.

God has given many good gifts to mankind, and every one of them can be taken to unhealthy, harmful extremes. In his hands, though, fire (as in a “fiery trial) can refine us, cleanse us, give birth to a passion, or be a symbol of God’s presence. In special cases, he uses fire as judgment, calling himself “a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29) His judgment is always righteous, perfectly meted out to the situation, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. Interestingly, though, God has also given us water powerful enough to squelch any fire: the living water of Jesus, i.e. salvation. And when we receive this gift, the Spirit comes to dwell within us.

BTW, that same Spirit arrived to the very first believers as (guess what) a fire.

”Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit.” (John 7:38)

Foundational Decisions

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Margaret

All of us who were raised in Sunday school sang the song about the foolish man and the wise man who each built a house, one on the sand, the other on a rock. As we enthusiastically did the hand motions, pounding our fists to imitate hammers and wiggling our fingers for rain, we couldn’t wait for the foolish man’s house to go, “Smash!” The bigger our claps, the better.

The last verse of the song says, “Build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ… and the blessings will come down.” As a child I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but now I know.

The story of the wise and foolish builders was originally told by the master story-teller, Jesus, in Matthew 7. He was illustrating a critical principle: as the foundation goes, so goes the house.

When all 7 of my grandchildren were staying with us recently, Louisa undertook an interesting building project with the 5 kiddies old enough to participate: a gingerbread house.

I admired her pluck in attempting to manage a mob of youngsters along with bags of icing and bowls of candy, but she eagerly initiated it. In this case, the little house was all made of gingerbread, including its foundation. But it didn’t need to stand through any storm bigger than 10 little hands picking at it over the next few days.

As it turned out, that finger-picking was all it took to ultimately make the little gingerbread house fall. Apparently cookies and candies don’t make very good building materials.

When Jesus told his story about the wise and foolish men, his obvious point was that we should build our lives on a foundation that will continue to stand through any storm. He, of course, was and is that life-foundation for anyone who so chooses. Those who build on anything else eventually learn that turbulent circumstances carve away their foundation, putting them at risk for a fall. Or, as Jesus put it, for “a great fall.” (v. 27)

But he was making another point in this story, too. Before he got started he said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be…” wise.

He was saying, “I’m dishing out the truth here, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll buy what I’m about to say.”

He also detailed the flip side: “Anyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is foolish.” (v. 26) So if we’re sensible, we’ll build our lives on the Lord, not on money, reputation, possessions, behavior, or anything else that seems like good building materials at the time, but in a storm will surely crumble….

….just like a house made of gingerbread.

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24)

Caught

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Margaret

A whole crowd of people in this world believe that disobeying the law is ok, unless you’re stupid enough to get caught. Then you deserve what you get.

Today stupid-me got caught. Birgitta, baby Emerald, and I were running errands when I passed a police car parked inconspicuously next to an auto body shop.

As I drove by, I reviewed a mental list of possible driving errors and was innocent on all counts. Proceeding with confidence, it surprised me when my rear view mirror lit up with police lights.

“Maybe it’s just a routine check for insurance and registration,” I thought. But when the police woman arrived at my window, she said, “You didn’t make a complete stop at that last stop sign.”

“I didn’t?” I said. “But I almost did, didn’t I?” She was not amused.

As she walked away with my license, registration, and insurance, I thought about how stupid I’d been to slide through a stop sign in front of a police car. But as Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does,” and I’d done something pretty stupid.

Bemoaning the mark on my driving record and the hike in my insurance that was sure to come, I thought about how failing to come to a complete stop hadn’t bothered me one bit… until I got caught. And truth be told, I’ve sloppy-stopped my way through scores of stop signs without getting caught, dismissing those “crimes” as ok. Now, mental repentance flowed.

Or did it? Maybe I was just wishing I hadn’t been caught. Sadly, that was it.

Scripture describes the human heart as “desperately wicked,” which is a whopping indictment against us all. The trouble is, we don’t really believe it. Haven’t we done some good things, too?

But more important than calculating our good-to-bad balance is another accusation Scripture makes alongside the words “desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17:9 says the human heart is “sick, without a cure.”

So what’s to be done?

We’re to ask God for a favor: “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.” (v. 14) In other words, we’ll never heal our own desperate wickedness, but God can and will, if we ask.

Today as Birgitta and I waited for the bad news and guesstimated my fine, the police woman returned. “I’m giving you a warning,” she said, “but next time, make a complete stop.” It was an undeserved gift, an example of grace. Whether it came from her or from God I wasn’t sure, but I gratefully accepted it.