We have just finished putting a load of firewood in the shed at the back of the house. There is nothing more cheerful than a fire burning in the grate on a cold raw winter day, and the mess and wok that a wood burning fire makes is more than worth the trouble of cleaning up around it!
A fire has many qualities….it not only keeps the house warm and inviting, but it can be used to get rid of any rubbish around the place….it cleanses as it burns. It is also referred to as a refining fire, and we know that a fire is used to clean any dross out of metals. Watching a metal worker heating the metal and then being able to twist it into any shape that he wants to, shows us that when we go through the fires of troubles and trials, that we come out at the other end, the better for it. Let us make sure that this is so, and that we don’t become bitter instead of better!
Something else that we can learn from a fire is that if a coal is taken out of it and left by itself on the hearth, it will gradually go cold and black, no more use for anything. So this is a warning to us, to make sure we keep in the fire of meeting with God’s people regularly to keep ourselves glowing with His peace and joy, able to warm and encourage others with our company.
We have just started putting bread in our bird feeder again for the winter months and once again it is giving us a lot of pleasure watching the little birds feeding there. I wondered how long it would be before they discovered the bread slices in it sitting there, but it only took about an hour and first one and then another came along and had a feed.
But you know, even among the birds there is continual scrapping going on. The small silver-eyes stand on a branch nearest the feeder and fluff their little wings angrily at each other. The bold mynah struts around at the base of the tree and even jumps up on the branch to take a few pecks before he gets chased off. The sparrows take no notice of the others and greedily grab as many beakfuls as they can while the others are scrapping among themselves.
Once again it reminded me of how we as people often scrap among ourselves, sometimes vying for the better places or positions. This is not how we are meant to behave, especially in church situations. The Lord Jesus told us to be prepared to take the humble place and wait for others to give us a higher position rather than angrily (or sneakily) try to take it from others.
It is not smart to behave like this anywhere, and only causes hurtful situations that often can never be remedied. People can forgive, but they very seldom completely forget!
