The Fruit of the Spirit is SELF-CONTROL.
Last year, September 2020, saw one of the worst wildfires in Oregon state history, with the Santiam Fire. No one quite knows how the Santiam Fire started, though rumors and speculation swirled wildly regarding arson as an act of aggression. Parched, dry vegetation rapidly fueled flames, and wind carried sparks, causing the fire to jump and spread at an alarmingly pace! The out-of-control blaze burned devastation all the way to the very edge of Portland itself.
Here’s a piece of little-known history (discovered in a library book, “Lookouts: Firewatchers of the Cascades and Olympics” by Ira Spring): During World War 2, the Japanese attempted to set the forests of the Pacific Northwest on fire. If the West Coast of the United States were to go up in flames, then the United States would be crippled in the war effort. To this end, Japanese submarines surfaced offshore along the Pacific Northwest coast, and parachute-type mini-bombs were released from the submarines. These mini parachutes were carried inland by the wind blowing in off the Pacific, with the intent to incinerate the forests.
Many of these parachute-type mini-bombs were later discovered by watchtower lookout personnel, as well as hikers. The reason nothing ever came of this effort is because the year these events occurred happened to be a particularly wet, rainy year in the Pacific Northwest. Due to the rain and the moisture, the parachute-mini-bombs were unsuccessful at igniting the forests. And the effort to set the West Coast ablaze was thwarted.
In an act of war, an effort was made to set the land on fire.
This is what is occurring all around us today!
All around us society is “burning” out-of-control. People’s souls are so parched and dry! When the soul is parched and dry, it’s easy for flames to ignite … take hold … and spread rapidly!
What is needed? Water! Living Water for the soul from God Himself!
- In Jeremiah 2:13, God says: “… they have forsaken Me, the spring of living water …”
- Again, in Jeremiah 17:13 – “Those who turn away from You will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.”
- In John 4:14, Jesus said: “… whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
- Again, in John 7:37-39 Jesus said: “… ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.”
Our parched, dry world is “burning” out-of-control! But we don’t have to be parched or dry. We don’t have to “burn” out-of-control. Jesus offers Living Water for our souls! Jesus offers to give us the Holy Spirit to fill our souls with His Living Water!
Our background photo for today shows a Pacific Northwest forest shrouded in rainy mists and damp fog … the very conditions which protected the forests of the Pacific Northwest during the fire-attempts of World War 2.
In the same way, God’s Word (the Bible) protects our souls from becoming parched, dry, and vulnerable to out-of-control “burns.” The Word of God is living water for our souls! We must stay daily, regularly, consistently in God’s Word!
The Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God) will produce the Fruit of the Spirit (SELF-CONTROL).
