When I was 10, I had hair that fell to my hips. Rapunzel length locks that I treasured. Christmas Eve that year was just like every other Christmas Eve. We end the service at my church by candle light, singing Silent Night. Small candles are placed in paper rings to prevent the hot wax from dripping down onto your hands. I stood next to my father and held the candle gingerly with both hands. My eyes were focused forward into the dark as I sang out the words to Silent Night.
My father, always keeping an eye on me, looked down to see that I was being careful with the burning candle. In the loudest whisper he shouted my name "Sarah!" With one quick stroke, he took his hand and whisked my hair behind my shoulder. When I had realized that I was about to burn off all of the hair on my head, I took all the breath that was within me and blew the candle out.
In that moment, I began to develop a fear of fire. Fire was something that destroys.
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In the Old Testament, the book of Exodus, we have this beautiful image of Moses approaching the burning bush. Exodus 3:2 says that Moses "looked and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed." With intense curiosity Moses nears the burning bush. And then God reveals Himself to Moses through the bush. He identifies Himself as the God of Moses' forefathers. He identifies Himself as the I Am.
In the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews deems God to be a "consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29) It would seem that these two passages are a contradiction. In one passage, God presents Himself as a non-consuming fire, but in the other He is directly called a consuming fire.
If we look at the word consume differently in each situation, we can see that the authors are getting at the same idea. God is a consuming fire in the sense that when you allow Him to ignite within you, you are completely consumed by His love and grace. He is not a fire that consumes and destroys, but allows the one within who He dwells to thrive.
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What can fire do?
Fire can save a life. It can provide warmth for body heat. It can provide heat to cook food. Fire can light the way. It can light a lantern; it can light a hearth.
Fire can build a community. People gather around a fire in fellowship. That is a Godly fire. That is a fire that continues burning, but does not destroy the things it touches.
There are fires in this world that do destroy. They come in all different forms. Sex. Drugs. Desire for acceptance. Money. There are countless names for those fires.
We have choices. We can choose what fire we ignite. We can choose what to light our hearth with. The Godly fire will not perish us.
~SP
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