A Consuming Fire

"For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29).  When you think of fire, what is the first thing you see?  Perhaps it is a cheerful campfire with people gathered around in friendship, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows.  Others who have lived through the fury that can be a fire may think of whole mountainsides going up in flames or maybe their house being lost.  That cheerful campfire can grow large very quickly given the right conditions.

In the Bible, when God is referred to as a consuming fire, the context is quite interesting.  The first time we see the words "consuming fire" in the Bible is in Deuteronomy 4:24 where we read that "the LORD your God is a consuming fire; a jealous God."  Those last three words are intriguing, and we find more insight if we back up to verse 23 which says "Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden."  Okay, so it seems that God is fiercely jealous and wants us to always put Him first.  Fair enough, but what does He really want from us?

Before we answer that question, let's look at the second of three references in the Bible for the words "consuming fire."  This one comes shortly after the first time we read it and is found in Deuteronomy 9:3.  Again, the context is important so we need to look at verses 1 and 2 as well.  "Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall -- Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: 'Who can stand up against the Anakites?' But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you."

If we take a figurative approach to these texts, we can consider Israel in the spiritual sense.  In each of our lives, we are called out of Egypt (a life of sin) into a new life with Christ in the Promised Land of Canaan (ultimately Heaven).  However, just because we have turned our back on our old ways does not mean that we have arrived at the perfection that Jesus would offer us.  Instead, He wants to go before us and root out the sin in our lives.  Even when it is not popular and we have an uphill struggle, He will go ahead of us and fight for us.  Just as He promised to go before the Israelites and fight for them, so will He go before us and fight our battles today.

So, in the end, it is great news that God is a consuming fire.  In Hebrews 12:28, we find what what God wants from us in return.  "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe."  It goes on in verse 29 to conclude the thought by saying "for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"  The reason that we give God our worship and praise is because of the mighty work He does in our lives.  He takes us, puny, sinful human beings, and offers to make us into a new creation.  II Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  This is fantastic news and this is why we should be praising God and worshipping Him with "reverence and awe."

As we move ever closer to possessing the Promised Land of Heaven, God will go before us and root out those things in our lives that keep us from Him.  There are so many distractions in the world around us today, and just as God knew that the heathen people around the Israelites would lead the Israelites astray into idolatry, so God knows that we surrounded by many things that try to keep us from Him.  His jealousy is born out of love for us, love so strong that He sent His Son to die for us (John 3:16).  In light of the gift He gave us, isn't it a very small thing to give up anything and everything that separates you from Him?  Ask God today to come into your life and consume anything that may be separating you from a closer walk with Him.