Sherry and I are spending the end of the week at Young at Heart camp. We are enjoying the time with old friends and having a chance to share As We Go Missions. It has been a rewarding time to be sure. Sherry has been leading music (though it was not her desire) and I lead a workshop along with the mission. On Thursday evening I shared the campfire devotion. Appropriately, it was on fire.
I started with a story about my dad and Uncle Dale. The latter was a forest ranger in Mugruder Ranger Station in the Bitterroot mountains of Idaho. We went to visit him a time or two through the years. I have several memories of the place, but for this purpose it involved fire. My uncle would come down to our campsite in the evening and he and my dad would sit around a firepit, staring and spitting. Few, if any, words were spoken. As evening wore on, my uncle would get up, head to his quarter and say, “Well, Dave, great spending the evening.” To this day, one of my favorite things is staring at a fire, and spitting.
When Sherry and I come to camp to work on cabins, we often go to the upper camp fire ring, build a fire and stare, at the fire and at the stars as they make their evening appearance. There is the first, the second, the thirds, and so one. I find fire to be a fascinating thing, not like a pyromaniac, but interesting.
As one things of fire, it has so many wonderful aspects to it. It produces heat, which on a cool or cold evening can save one’s life. It cooks our food. I am thinking of marshmallows and hotdogs. The crackle as evening darkens is a most pleasant sound.
There is a not so pleasant side of fire, however. Get too close and severe damage and pain is inflicted. In 1990, our rental house in Illinois burned. We lost many of our possessions and even today we find ourselves wondering about something, only to remember it was lost in the fire. This Spring, my brother lost his life when is RV caught fire and burned.
Which brings me to the association with God and fire. Fire serves a number of purposes and roles in God’s Word. Fire is often associated with God’s presence. Be it through the fiery pillar at night which lead Israel and protected her while in the wilderness or the “Lamp of God” in 1 Samuel 3:3. In 2 Chronicles 7:1 fire came down and entered the new temple that Solomon had just built. God’s presence was marked with fire.
But fire was also part of destruction and judgment. When cities were captured, they were often burned. God’s judgments was also seen in fire. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with fire and brimstone. The Psalms have numerous references to God’s fiery judgments. And of course, maybe the most intriguing of all, the divided tongues, as of fire, which came upon those assembled on the Day of Pentecost when the church was born.
So, through the good, and through the bad, with its joys and despite its dangers, I still love fire. And as I sit and stare, perhaps a practice I learned from my dad, I delight in the reminder of the presence of my God. His word reminds us that He is always with us. Wherever we go, He is already there.