Materialism becomes and all consuming fire…but not like God.
The type of fire that leaves burns and nothing to show for itself and ashes
that remind me only of the hurt and the waste. I don’t want a heart in ashes. I
don’t want a soul cracked and scorched.
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, and this let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and
awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)
This consumer’s heart needs consuming. Desperately. I get so
rutted here! So wanting and envious and tricked into thinking I “need”
something. What the heck could I possibly “need”? I need my heart consumed by
God and hell wants to consume it with the flames of want and confused “needs.”
There is a kingdom that cannot be shaken! Why am I still shaking my wallet for
loose change and shaking my head as a judge people left and right and shaking
my soul as I feast on worthless idols that don’t satisfy? They don’t talk back.
They crumble. They become ashes and dust. From dust to dust. Just like me.
THERE IS SOMETHING
BETTER.
A kingdom that cannot be shaken! I shake, but He who holds
me has a tight grip and won’t let go no matter how much I tremble. When I think
and I get anxious and care so much about the thoughts of others…shaky as my
faith may be…HE CANNOT BE SHAKEN.
“THEREFORE”… there is a response. There is something I am
shown in this passage that elicits a response.
I am to do something because of it. This truth is meant to change me. I
am to offer acceptable worship. What does it mean to offer acceptable worship
to the Almighty who has already accepted me in Christ? Perhaps it’s just that…to be consumed by just how loved and accepted I
am in Christ. Loved and accepted...for WHO I AM! For WHO CHRIST IS! FOR WHO
GOD HAS PROCLAIMED ME TO BE IN CHRIST. I am mud God chose to give life to and
grow up and teach and give a particular shape to and a personality in order for
Him to say, “Yes! Just as I had planned her. My sweet daughter and design. My
Kate.”
Why do I look around at the other pots? God made me and
dried this particular pot just as He saw fit, in His all-consuming fire. Consume me with the truth of this fire!
I desperately need the reverence and awe that accompanies
this truth. Reverence to God and awe of who He is. To allow my heart to be so
consumed I stop focusing so much on being a consumer. To stop consuming things
and money and relationships and calories and time and to allow myself to BE
CONSUMED…by love and grace and beauty and what matters!
I was made and
designed by God.
I am loved and chosen
by God.
I can be still and know
that He is God.
My days are numbered
by God.
My hairs are numbered
by God.
Each nerve in my body
is known by God.
No synapse in my
brain happens apart from God.
The list goes on and
on and on…
I have got to take time to look up before I consume myself with everything and everyone around
me. To ask God what He thinks of me before I even dare to ask what I think of
myself. TO BE CONSUMED. Not like a fire that demolishes a house, but rather like
silver consumed in flames. Not destroyed, but purified and renewed. Made
brighter, reflecting more Light.
Don't be obsessed with
getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured
us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can
boldly quote, “God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or
what can get to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6 MSG)
Amen.
