Fire is a key essential element to the survival of humans. Typically, when someone is in a survival situation, one of the first questions that must be addressed is how to build a fire. Fire brings warmth and keeps away bugs and predators. It also cooks food and purifies water. It is a key element to life. Starting a fire is not an easy task. Today, there are matches and fire rods, however when you are stranded in the wilderness you are left to rely on your most primitive instincts. Without any man-made survival items, you are left with only things made from the Creator of the Earth.
The process of building a fire is not an easy one. Before you find a place to shelter the fire, you must first gather a few things. You will need to gather sticks and make a spindle. You need a rock to press down with so that you can get the correct pressure. You will need to find some dry kindle and tinder. Once you have gathered everything you need you are now ready for the process. It can be rather exhausting and nearly impossible when you try to use your own strength rather than relying on the natural supplies that came from your time gathering in the wilderness.
When you have your bow and rock in place, you can begin pressing down firmly on the rock. Not only does the rock act as a leading guide for the bow but also making it possible to apply the pressure needed to create friction. Friction is the most important thing in creating a fire. Friction creates the ember. When you press on the rock and methodically pull the bow to and fro, the ember made from friction will fall into a catch. When this is complete, you must carefully bring the dried bundle of tinder to the ember and that is when the important part begins.
Fire requires oxygen. You must breathe into the bundle. The breath and oxygen breathe life into the ember which transfers to the tinder. You must repeatedly blow into the tinder until it catches fire. Finally, you need to transfer the ball of tinder to the dry kindling. The fire must be watched and continually breathed into until it grows hot and big enough to add bigger pieces of firewood.
This is a picture of how God builds His kingdom here on Earth. A small cultivated culture is key. Small is the “new big” in the Kingdom. Jesus had many followers, but only twelve disciples. God gathers up the tinder and kindling, known as His chosen sons and daughters. He presses down on the rock (Jesus) and pulls the bow (Spirit) until the ember is in the catch. Then, He takes the select dried out tinder and drops the ember in it and begins to breathe life into it. The next thing you know there is a well-built fire that can sustain life.
He is creating small, family cultures that burn with a passion for Him. He gathers and uses those who were dead and dried up for a purpose. He builds the fire and then trusts His chosen people to not only maintain the fire, but also to feed it.
It seems as though everyone is looking for their own fire rather than sharing and enjoying the one He has mercifully and gracefully built for us. He simply wants the fire to be seen from afar in the darkness so that it draws the ones who are lost wandering in the wilderness to it for food, warmth and protection.
The church is not a building where we come to get fed once a week and then return to the wilderness. The church is like a bunch of different fires in the wilderness. Small families gathering daily for warmth, protection and food. Giving thanks to Him and learning more about Him together. The calling is not to start another ministry or another church, but rather begin to disciple where you are. Get planted where the Lord guided you and see if the fire is sustainable for life.
Storms can tell a lot about a fire. The same oxygen that breathes life into a fire is the same oxygen that can extinguish one. You can tell how well taken care of a fire is when a storm comes. It will either destroy the fire or it invigorates the fire. The wind can blow the fire out. However, the wind can cause the flame to burn hotter and brighter than ever before. Making it a wildfire.
Wildfires are rather intriguing. They do not discriminate. They do not pick and choose. They go wherever the wind blows. Jumping from one hill to another or one city to another. Our perspective as humans is the destruction that is seen. The loss is the only thing seen. However, the wildfire destroys all the old and turns it into fertilizer for the new. A new ecosystem of life.
What would happen if people quit operating out of self will and started operating by God's will? What would it look like if rather than building things bigger and bigger we became more focused on intimacy in small family cultures? What would it look like if we quit searching for the newer, bigger, and better, and instead just got planted? Planted where a fire has already been started by God. Let the wind lead where the wind leads.
Hebrews 12:29
Psalm 1:3
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