I've been thinking about firewood lately. Not the inanimate kind that is stacked neatly in a woodshed waiting to be used. The kind that has two legs and a mind of its own. The kind that decides for itself if it will be placed on the altar and used to maintain, and increase, the warmth and light of the fire.
We are that firewood. We must make that decision.
Here are some of the nuggets that have contributed to this train of thought.
- "It is useless to pray for the fire of heaven to descend when the altar is not built and the sacrifice unprepared." Evan Roberts - Welsh Revivalist
- In Leviticus, the priests are instructed that it is their responsibility to keep the fire going.
- Leviticus 6:12,13 "The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out."
- God would light the fire (Leviticus 9:23,24) but the responsibility of keeping it going was given to man.
- Nehemiah 13:31 "I also made sure that the supply of wood for the altar... was brought at the proper time."
- This is one of the last recorded actions of Nehemiah, to make sure there was wood for the fire on the altar.
The point seems pretty clear for me. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. Without pushing the point too much, if I see you at prayer I'll have a pretty good idea as to the conclusion you've reached.
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