Have you ever repeated something to emphasize the importance of your message and even repeated it with a little change to make sure the meaning is clear? If you’ve ever raised kids, coached, or worked in an environment with team dynamics, I know you understand!
God did and does the same thing.
In Leviticus 6:8-13, Jehovah, or the great I AM, instructed Moses to keep the fire on the altar in the tabernacle burning. The key detail was the fact that the fire was never to be extinguished. Not only that, but it was supposed to be “kept burning.” Burning. Not a gentle glow with embers crackling quietly. The fire was to burn.
Why?
The fire was to represent the consuming nature of God Himself (Hebrews 12:29) – His very Presence. The altar was the designated place for offerings to be presented for the purpose of atonement or the forgiveness of sin. The consuming fire would accept the sacrifice offered as our reasonable sacrifice in view of the Most High God’s mercy, love, and grace.
Jehovah – the God of holiness and righteousness – would abide in the tabernacle with sin confessed, sacrifices made, and the consuming fire purifying flesh and sin.
The application in our lives over 3,000 years later is the fact that we are to burn, to be kindled, from the Source – Jesus’ Spirit. Our fire should not be of our own making, not from the fuel of this world which burns as stubble.
The blaze of our faith is no figure of speech. The New Testament demonstrates an Old Testament principle with Jesus Christ as the sacrifice offered for the atonement of sin, and the Presence of God abiding with those who invite Him to stay and tabernacle.
Turn to Luke 24. Jesus has been publicly scorned, flogged, then crucified on a Roman cross of execution used for criminals. Jesus was placed in the borrowed tomb – needed only for 3 days. Angels had appeared to the women coming to dress the body and honor their friend and Rabbi, Jesus. But the tomb was empty because the power of the Holy Spirit literally brought the dead corpse of Jesus back to life.
Jesus Christ was resurrected and alive.
He appeared along a seven-mile road to a group of men “hurling words” at each other in discussing and debating about the ministry of Jesus and the whereabouts of His body, while searching for meaning. Jesus was invited by these men to walk along this road to Emmaus. As the conversation turned to Jesus, He escorted these men along another road – the journey back in time from Moses to the prophets. Every account cited by the risen Christ pointed to the Messiah’s first coming and the events that had culminated with Jesus’ death and crucifixion.
As these men urged Jesus to abide and linger with them over a meal, their eyes were opened to see Jesus – the risen Savior...before He vanished. At that moment, these travelers said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
Take the time to watch the complete teaching below, but take a moment now to see the parallels between Jehovah’s instruction.
Jesus was invited to abide. God first loved us and desires to tabernacle and abide with His people. Jesus was the sacrifice offered to atone for sins, as required for love, forgiveness, and fellowship with the Presence of God.
The never-ceasing fire burning in the Old Testament was at the altar. Our very lives are directed by that which occupies our hearts and minds. What occupies your altar, the space of your heart that holds your objects of devotion, your loves and obsessions, and the seat of your very being?
It’s time for you to acknowledge what Jesus already knows. Does your heart burn for Jesus? Is there a kindled fire that indicates the very Presence of Jesus Christ, the King, in your life that emanates from within your being? Has your heart ever burned for Jesus?
How can your heart burn for Jesus if you can’t answer these questions with a “yes?”
Make sure you have sacrificed self and accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Those are two separate ways to know Jesus! As Savior, we know Jesus as Redeemer who has saved us from the debt of our sin by purchasing us. Knowing Jesus as Lord is to know Him after dying to self and placing Him on the seat of your life’s throne for governance and rule (see last week’s blogpost, He Reigns...Well, Does He?)
If Jesus Christ is both Your Savior and Lord, your altar is set for His fire to burn. We have to invite His Spirit to abide and seek His Presence. The fire of Jesus burns in the hearts of the faithful. This fire burns in those overcoming failures, flaws, and the fights in the spiritual world. The fire of Jesus’ Spirit burns in the hearts of those living under an open heaven. The Spirit revealed Jesus through the healing of spiritual blindness and the understanding of God’s Holy Word.
Do you want to burn for Jesus? You have to get close enough to the fire to catch ablaze. The Abba’s House family of faith welcomes you and needs you. Come burn with us!