Have you ever wondered why children are so attracted to fire? You sit around a campfire with children and they are always right there by it with sticks poking at it.
When I was a kid we did a lot of camping. Any chance we got we were off for the weekend. I remember one particular time. We were at one of our favorite places, sitting around the campfire listening to my mom read a book. Suddenly, we heard a blood-curdling scream, a child in a camp near us had fallen into the campfire, face first.
This is so vivid in my mind, even to this day. As I look back I don’t know how emergency people were even notified because we didn’t have cell phones in those days, but an ambulance did come.
We may think, “Why don’t kids listen? We tell them over and over, ‘Stay away from the fire.’” But it seems they don’t listen.
Well, I am here to tell you, we are not any different. We dally around in the “fire” all the time, the fire of sin. Whether it is something we want to do, eat, drink, listen to, watch, etc., we figure it won’t hurt this once. We will be careful. The problem is that when we start to “play in the fire with a stick” we are more likely to fall fully into sin.
When we look at people and see some of the horrific sins out there, we look down on them. I’ll have you know, no one starts out deep in sin, it is gradual. It is based on one choice at a time. As we make that one choice at a time we get closer and closer to just totally falling into the “fire” and getting burned. The worst “burn” would be eternal death.
How many times does a parent say, “Stop playing in the fire?” But it seems that a child tends to go back to it a little bolder each time because he hasn’t felt any pain so he doesn’t believe us.
We do the same with God. He keeps coming to us, with His still small voice, letting us know we are going the wrong direction. But every time we ignore His voice it becomes softer and softer and we become bolder and bolder in our ways. And before we know it, we are doing things we never would have thought that we would ever do.
We need to stay connected to God each day and when the choices come we need to listen to His voice and choose His ways, one step at a time.
Dear Father,
Forgive us for “playing” in the “fire” of sin. Continue to speak to us. Thank You for loving us so much to send Your Son to die, in our place, so that we don’t have to die in the “fire”. Forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Let’s make right choices, one choice at a time. And if you have fallen into the fire of sin, remember, God is a God of love, forgiveness, and healing.
Love you all.
Maybe you have been “burned” by “fire” for some choices you have made. How did the Lord bring you through it? Share your story so that someone can be encouraged with what God can do.