Growing up in church, I had always heard the phrase “He/She is on fire for God!” Typically it describes a person with a lot of zeal or excitement about the things of God. You would know it by how they talked and how they shared that excitement. I think that is great. Yet, I am reflecting on the fire of God itself. What is that?
I am currently going through a deep-dive study of the book of Leviticus. It seems like it would be pretty dry stuff because it is about law. Right now, I am reading several chapters regarding the laws surrounding sacrifice. I am finding that it is quite fascinating because what I am really reading is about God’s desire for connectedness with his people. Just one pathway after another for people to be in right standing with The Lord.
There are some things that really stick out to me. First, that God loves the smell of baking bread. It is one of the sacrifices and Leviticus tells us that it is an aroma that is pleasing to the Lord. I don’t know why, but that makes me so happy.
The other is that everyone is involved in sacrifice. The giver and the priests. Barring the giver going into the tent, he was a part of the process. The priest was part of the process. There were no passive participants here. It was “all hands on deck”. You didn’t drop off your ram and keep moving.
But what I really want to talk about is in Leviticus 6. A few times in this chapter, we are told that the fire on the altar should be kept always burning. It cannot be extinguished. A sign to everyone that God was always ready for atonement.
In her book, Glossary of Theological Terms, Phylicia Masonheimer defines atonement as “The means by which someone makes reparation for sin; how God reconciles people to himself…”
The steady fire is God symbolically saying he’s ready for relationship with us. Which is why he sent Jesus Christ as the final sacrifice, the last atonement for us. We can always make that decision to accept Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins. The ultimate atonement has been completed.
But, more on the fire…
In the book of Acts (v. 1-4) we read about The Holy Spirit filling people on the day of Pentecost. Not ony did they speak in different tongues, but a flame rested on each person.
I thought about that and thought about it. Fire. God’s symbol in Leviticus of always being available for reconciliation. His invitation to make things right. His gesture to come closer and get to know Him.
So, what if being on fire was us carrying the symbolic gesture of God to come closer to Him? What if the fire we carry with us is the loving God who is desperate for relationship with the people He created and is it a fire that cannot be extinguished?
How can we define “being on fire” in our lives that pulls people to the presence of a God who loves them so much, he wanted no barriers to keep them from Him? Just the full acceptance of his son as our stand-in for atonement.
We no longer have tents and denied access (Matthew 27:51) to God. But how do we carry that? What is the flame above my head? Is it a flame of God’s desired relationship or my hammer of judgement? Or my sword of anger? Or nothing? Do I carry nothing to show God’s invitation? Did I let the flame burn out?
My fire can be dim. I control the brightness. I don’t constantly bear the invitation of God. I have to work on this. I have to let my whole life be the invitation of God. Not just parts. Not for certain people and not just for myself.