Fire

For some reason, I can clearly remember my grade 10 science teacher asking our class ‘Is fire a living thing?’. As expected, the answer is ‘no’ but the question isn’t as silly as it sounds. He went on to explain why this has been a debated question. The six rules of living things are - every living thing needs nutrients and reproduction to survive; every living thing produces waste; every living thing repairs and/or expands itself; every living thing needs something to breathe (like oxygen) to survive; every living thing dies; and every living thing is made up of cells (No I didn't remember these - thanks google!). Fire has all these properties, except one. It is not made up of cells. But I think it’s a pretty clever choice by God to use the analogy of fire throughout the bible.

I love that God is described as a ‘consuming fire’.This conjures up some pretty strong and powerful imagery.

In the old testament, fire was often a symbol of God’s presence – such as in the burning bush and consuming Elijah’s sacrifice rather than the prophets of Baal’s sacrifice.

Fire is what came to mind when I heard this year’s topic of Living God. In the new testament, we have been baptised with ‘the holy spirit and with fire’. God uses the Spirit to guide and comfort us, just like the pillar of fire guiding the children of Israel. God now confirms His presence with the inextinguishable fire of the Holy Spirit. Just like the fire which consumed Elijah’s sacrifice, the Holy Spirit evidenced by tongues is something that I just cannot deny. It’s solid proof that I always reflect on if my faith is wavering.

Fire also gives light and Jesus described himself as the ‘light of the world’. And when light takes on darkness, light always wins!

Anyway just a few things I've been thinking about :) I'm sure there are so many more parallels along this line of thought.