BRING THE FIRE
Fall is the season of bonfires, one of my favorite fall rituals.
Psalm 5:3 refers to a different fire-related ritual, the morning sacrifice of a burnt offering, or more likely at my house, a morning prayer.
“Every morning, I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend.” (The Message) Or, as the NIV renders it: “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”
Fires ignite; fires purify; fires also destroy. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary captures the extremes of what fire can do in its definition of “bonfire” as “an open-air fire lit to burn rubbish or as part of a celebration.”
Some things need to be devoured; some things need to be celebrated. Sometimes I can’t tell the difference, so I put all the pieces of my life on God’s altar and let him decide what to turn to ashes and what to fan into flame. He decides what to bring the fire to.
He’s had a lot of experience. He used a pillar of fire to guide the Israelites through the desert (Exodus 13:21). He spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Exodus 3:2). He acts “like a refiner’s fire” to his people (Malachi 3:2). He sent his Spirit to early Christians on “tongues of fire” (Acts 2:3-4).
I need this kind of fire when I begin my day. I can’t do everything, though some days I try and fail. When I try to do all things well, I end up doing most things poorly. I need God to prioritize things for me. He knows what will happen on this day anyway, so I ask him: What is the kindling that needs to be burned? What is the gift that needs to be fanned into flame? What idea could be better if I let you refine it?
“Sacrifice isn’t something we do for God; it’s simply setting out the stuff of life for him to do something with,” writes Eugene Peterson. “On the altar, the sacrificial offering is changed into what is pleasing and acceptable to him.” (The Message Study Bible, on Psalm 5:3)
Help me, Lord, to let it burn, let it blaze or let it go.