KEEP THE FIRE BURNING
Scripture for the day: Leviticus 6:12-13 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out…A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.
Thought for the day: And you thought there was nothing worth reading in Leviticus! The entire book is about fulfilling the admonition recorded in Exodus 20:1-17 and right there in Leviticus 11:44-45. The first is the Ten Commandments (not ten reasonable suggestions) and the second is a twice-repeated command that says, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
Any good fireman will tell you there are three elements necessary to keep a fire burning: fuel, oxygen, and heat. Remove any one of the three from the so-called “fire triangle” and the fire will go out. In a spiritual sense the same is true. Remove the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, from life and the fire of devotion will die. Remove the fuel of the Word and the same will happen. Remove the heat generated by fellowship and worship and the exact same result will be produced. We need all three in order to keep the fire going on the altar of God’s throne. The following story is a bit of a long read but, for some, a needed reminder.
The story is told of a man named John who had once been faithful to attend his church regularly, but had grown lackadaisical recently. The Pastor knew that he hadn't seen the gentleman in a while, so he went for a visit.
John greeted the Pastor and welcomed him in, directing him to the chair beside the fireplace. He asked the Pastor what brought him to visit, but the Pastor didn't say a word; he simply grabbed the fireplace tongs, picked up a hot coal from the fire, and set it away from the fire, out on the hearth. Both men then watched the coal.
While the fire roared on, the coal, which had been red hot, began to lose its heat. It gradually lost its red color, and then cooled off so that it became only lukewarm to the touch. The Pastor picked up the coal, and handed it to John for a moment... neither man said a word.
Then the Pastor reached out and took the coal back from John, and returned it to the roaring fire... and in just a few short moments, the coal once again glowed red hot, as the pile of flaming coals caused it to heat up again. The Pastor then got to his feet, put his hat on, and shook John's hand. At that point, John looked at the Pastor with tears in his eyes, and told him "Thank you for coming, Pastor, and I'll be back in church this coming Sunday!" *
Now some of those reading this aren't able to attend church services on a regular basis due to poor health. For those who can attend services, but, for one reason or another, have decided to remain at home, consider the man John in our story: Do we need to re-examine our reasons for not going? If it's hypocrites, yes the church is filled with them, but we don’t stay away from our workplace because of hypocrites there. Are we prone to telling ourselves that we can worship God just as well camping, or golfing, or on the lake, as in church? We may be able to do so, but will we? Those sorts of rationalizations aren’t really fooling anyone but ourselves; certainly not God!
If you feel that God's Word isn't being preached in truth, then find a church where it is - church isn't a cure-all for all of our problems, but it is a place that each of us can be surrounded by those who will listen, and those who will pray for us... and we will hear Biblical teaching there that we will not hear on the lake!
So again, I ask you - what's your excuse? I pray that as each of us, in our own way, examines this area of our life, that God would move in our hearts and give us an intense desire to return to the sanctuary of the church - and that we can once again find the joy of worshipping God with other believers!
Now go take on your world - Bill *Author unknown