“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4
On a cold, 32 degree day, maintaining a wood burning stove can be a full time job. Watching embers form and burn and turn to ash can be a mesmerizing process. Sometimes, however the fire needs some persuasion to keep burning.
There are many tricks that one can pull from to make using a wood stove easier. One such trick is managing the airflow. On a particular occasion, I had moved the coals around, positioned the remaining pieces of wood over the coals and allowed more air to flow. The coals erupted and the wood pieces on top were engulfed in flames.
That can be metaphorical of our habit of Bible reading. Sometimes we are diligent and consistent, like the burning fire, and other times we struggle to even crack the cover, like the smoky fire. This happens. God knows it does, but He is merciful to fan us into flame when we really strive to meditate on His Word.
As I sat watching the flames, I was reminded of one of my favorite, older praise songs by Hillsong, called Consuming Fire”.
Some of the lyrics are as follows: “Consuming fire, fan into flame a passion for your name. Spirit of God, fall in this place. Lord, have your way; Lord, have your way with us. Come like a rushing wind. Clothe us with power from on high. Now set the captives free. Leave us abandoned to your praise. Lord, let your glory fall; Lord, let your glory fall. Stir it up in our hearts, a passion for your name. A passion for Jesus.”
I’m not sure what causes us to fall into a Bible reading apathy. Is it busyness? Is it stress? Is it ill-placement of priorities? Maybe it’s one or the other. Perhaps it’s a mixture of several different things. What I do know from experience, is when we decide to get serious about His Word, we see so much more in the world around us. We see people clearer. We take the opportunities provided the Spirit more readily. We hear God louder. When we take time to meditate on His Word, we are changed.
“For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 4:24