A CONSUMING FIRE

A CONSUMING FIRE

I am curious about the phrase in the concluding verse in the Book of Hebrews 12:29…”for our God is a consuming fire.”

Fire is an element of nature which when harnessed can be beneficial or destructive.

God is a consuming fire, says the writer of Hebrews.

All the more that we should fear Him, because He is awesome in  power.

I try to review the sermons in my home church, and it is remarkable that mostly the preaching dwells on the love of God, the loving kindness and compassion of God, God’s faithfulness, the grace of God,  the forgiving God.  Hardly is there a subject on the fear of God.

Though our Creator has all the wonderful attributes mentioned, we are also reminded, even warned, that  the  God Abraham, is an awesome, supremely powerful God, whom we should fear. He is a consuming fire. We who are merely fashioned by Him should not take Him lightly.

I believe there would be less evil or wickedness in this world if mankind has this fear of the Lord, instilled in their hearts. Like fire that consumes anything in its way, God can destroy anything. Like a raging fire that burns and eats up everything in its path, lest we forget,  this is another side of God. He is a God of justice and we need to fear Him, with reverence and awe. It is dreadful to fall into the hands of the Living God.

The  Biblical account of the ancient cities Sodom and Gomorrah, describes, how,  the people who lived there were  destroyed by God, because of their evil ways.

 “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and He overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.”(Genesis 19:24-25)

This is a fearful description of God and when He rained fire and brimstone upon these two apostate cities, whose inhabitants lived in wanton carnality and sin, the writer of Hebrews aptly described in no uncertain words that “our God is a consuming fire”.

It is obvious from this account in the Scripture that God is an awesome, supremely powerful God whom we should fear and give reverence. We should not take Him lightly by calling Him “Bro” or whatever condescending terms of familiarity careless people call Him nowadays.

THE MOTHER WHO LOBBIED FOR POWER

THE MOTHER WHO LOBBIED FOR POWER

After the elections, a passing thought struck me as I ruminated on what might be the feelings of those who lost in their aspirations to be elected or re-elected. 

The thought struck me that we are now building on a civilization based on the obsessive pursuit of political power. What is it in politics which drives even the seemingly apolitical or non-political types, to join in the fray.

There are acquaintances in the religious community, active in the lay ministry of preaching, teaching, or evangelizing who aspired to be in politics, as well.

They won, they lost, they run again, invoking the sovereign and moral  authority  of God as their guide.

As my classmate used to say when we were Poli- Sci majors, Politics is the art of intrigue, to attain a superior position of power.  This seems to be a good way of summing it up. 

But Christ the Lord of the Christians has different way of looking at it. At one time an ambitious and highly politicized mother wanted his sons to sit in the position of power, and lobbied for her children.

Here is the account and maybe this is worth reflecting upon particularly those who want to be leaders of men:

Matthew 20”21-28

20Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

21“What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

22“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

23Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

24When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Now think about it.

A FRIEND’S GRIEF

A FRIEND’S GRIEF

A classmate and dear friend from Law School, lost his son. They buried him today.

My friend said he and his wife are terribly devastated.  But he said they have the calm assurance of God’s grace. He recited to me the affirmation of the great sufferer Job: Life is given by our  Creator and we have no claims over it, if He takes it away.

I have no words but tears for this good and loving father. For this bereaved family the sky is thick with the dark clouds of sorrow. But this darkness will sure come to pass,  giving way to a bright shining light of God’s glory.

I am encouraged by my friend’s steadfast faith.

By the world’s standard he is a successful man. A brilliant advocate, a partner in one of the largest law firms of the country, but this achievement pales in comparison with his steady and faithful partnership with our Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

He trusts that his family will be given the grace to see the bigger picture in this tragedy.

Max Lucado once asked: “ Suppose death is different from what they (the Philosophers) thought, less a curse and more a passageway, not a crisis to be avoided but a corner to be turned?”

Usually in difficult times like this, we ask for explanations.

This I think is the right question.  

The great saint, Paul of Tarsus, the great lion of God assured us that “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”(2 Cor. 4:17-18).

This is the bigger picture yet unseen. This is the bigger picture which one can see only through the glass of unrelenting faith.

MEETING AN OLD BUDDY

MEETING AN OLD BUDDY

Yesterday I met up with an old high school buddy now a Math Professor at the University of the Philippines.

He often spends summer in our hometown and attends  the school reunion,  without fail, every year. I asked if we could talk again, as we often do, whenever he’s home.

He was in casuals,  baseball cap, with bulky camera dangling from the neck. He looked like a local tourist or a rugged reporter . He didn’t look like the typical academic, which he is, and a brilliant one.

We  talked about many  things, classmates, family, politics,  and about life. We reminisce  the days of our youth, of the transitions we went through in the stages of life.

He talked sadly of friends and schoolmates who had returned to the ground, and the unpredictability of events in one’s life. With his mathematical mind it was as if he wanted to draw up an equation  to divine the uncertainties. 

This man is a deep,  prodigious thinker, and yet there is the artistic side  to  him. I glanced at the camera slung around his neck. He said he is interested in birds and different species of native plants and flowers.  He said he recently climbed a mountain somewhere in Luzon seeking out rare species,  and documenting his finds.

I think his passion for  nature is what keeps him in balance. I suppose for him teaching higher math is exacting to the heart, much too clinical, even impersonal, because it requires no less than  utter perfection.  

Alas, all of man’s striving  falls short of perfection.   

And this reminds of me what St. Paul declared to the Christians in Rome. He said we all come short of God’s glory. (Romans 3:23). 

This makes us human after all.

   

A NEW DAY

A NEW DAY

Walking leisurely in the hallway to my office a friend met me and commented that it looked like I had no important business to keep. I said I’m getting along in years so I could no longer keep up with all the hurrying and trotting.

A more laid back approach might be slow, or thought to be inept, but it gives my nerves the needed slack.

In this world system, we devour the day with ferocity.

As the new day dawns like beating drums people move in rapid cadence plunging hard and fast hoping to accomplish things which seem very important, but likely to pass on to insignificance, in the inevitable passage of time.

And so what better way to welcome the coming of each new morning of the day than to praise the God of all creation for making us see another light of day.

The Psalmist of old, declared: “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

I think man should learn from the lesser creatures like the birds and the fowl. Each new morning they break the silence of the dawn by their cheery chirping and crowing, praising their Creator. Unlike the modern man, they don’t wake up to race against time and against each other, by their endless hurrying and speeding. They rise welcoming the new day making joyful sounds of praise.     

Bible Teacher Woodrow  Kroll, aptly described this joyful sacrifice of praise.

He wrote:

“With every new morning nature offers a tribute of praise to God's mercy. The sun rises; the birds sing; the trees sway in the breeze. Shall we alone be silent and ungrateful? Shall the Christian, who has the most reasons to praise God for His mercy, be slow to acknowledge that God's mercy is renewed to him each day? Will we allow the natural creation of God alone to praise its Creator?

No matter how dark our day may appear to be, let us remember this with Jeremiah, ‘It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22-23)”.

My friend, why don’t you pause for a moment, and think of the fact that you have awakened to another day, and thank God, in His mercy,  for giving you another lease on life, before racing against life itself.

God Bless you.