Every once in a while when we’re out camping, everything works out right and we’ll have a campfire.  It doesn’t happen very often because 1) there are usually fire bans, 2) we frequently aren’t in a place where a fire would be convenient, and 3) we don’t always have time for the luxury.  But when we can make a campfire, we enjoy sitting around it, enjoying the warmth and each other’s company.

There’s something about a fire that brings people together.  It’s a place to swap stories, to remember what God has done, to laugh and relax after a day of hiking.  Times around a fire have spawned more than a few close friendships.

In the Bible, we see fire in a variety of good and destructive ways.  When the Holy Spirit was poured out in the upper room on Pentecost, it looked like fire (Acts 2:3).  God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29; Deuteronomy 9:3).  Fire goes before God and consumes his enemies (Psalm 97:3).  Our foundations will be tested by fire (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).  Jesus came to baptize us with fire (Matthew 3:11).  Hell is described as a lake of fire (Mark 9:43, Revelation 20:15).  God came down on Mt. Sinai in fire (Exodus 19:18).  God says that He would be a wall of fire (protection) around His people (Zechariah 2:5).  Jesus even said that He came “to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49).

As Christians, we talk about “going through fiery trials” or other similar expressions for a difficult time.  Physical fire can be destructive and refining.  I know people who have lost homes and property and livelihood to fire.  No one really wants to “go through the fire” – to feel the heat, to watch their burnable desires and possessions destroyed, to find themselves under that kind of intense pressure.

But fire is also a gift from God – used to destroy at times but also used for good.  We use fire for cooking, for staying warm, for times of fellowship.  We use it for light, propelling ourselves without our own energy, creating electricity, purifying water, and making tools and other things that are useful to our jobs and daily lives.  Without fire, life as we know it would cease to exist.

Let God take you into His fire.  It’s not just who He is (Hebrews 12:29), but it’s also the only way to live in the way that He has designed for us.  Fire is warmth in a cold world; the fulfillment to our hunger, the method to move us where we need to go, the solution to the tools we need, the light that dispels the darkness, and so much more.