Picture this, if you will; a large field of dry brush, in a drought. It is lacking nutrients, attention, and care. It is hurting and dying, ripe for a forest fire. Now imagine this is our world. These are our people.
You don’t actually have to imagine it. There are people all around us suffering, hurting, in need of attention and care.
I heard this line in a song recently, and it ignited something within me, spread love like fire. When I began to search for a Bible verse relevant to this concept, I typed “Bible verses about…,” into Google, and then paused. I felt the need to write in “fire,” which seemed silly. The idea is love, and speaking life. I felt I should be searching for verses about those things, but God had other plans for this message. Isn’t it amazing how God can use Google to speak with us?!
I continued with my search, “Bible verses about fire,” thinking it wouldn’t lead to what was so obviously placed on my heart, but I was wrong. There are many verses speaking of fire, and I noticed a theme. When we read about fire in the Bible, it is typically of two very different concepts. Most notably, fire is used in reference to destruction or anger. But then, there are a handful of times where we see that an angel of the Lord appeared as fire. In Exodus 3:2 (NIV) we read, “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up.” When I looked into this verse further, I noticed that almost every other translation says, “but was not consumed” at the end.
What I have taken from that is this; this fire is not consuming, not destructive, but enlightening.
We can look at those dry, forlorn fields with two options; the choice between two different fires. Hate or Love.
Hate is an easier fire to ignite. It’s like pouring gasoline on burning embers. It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort, or even thought.
But love…
Love is not as easy. It takes patience. It takes some work, diligence, and persistence, but the sparks that fly will ignite a flame that breathes life into the forlorn; a flame that brings light to the darkness! It is not destructively all-consuming, but it can spread like wildfire.
Which spark are you going to choose to be? Spark hatred? Or spread love like fire?
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