It is a new and novel experience to heat our home with wood. This past week the temps dropped down into the 30’s, so we fired up the wood-burning fireplace-insert to see how it would do heating the house.
I’m still very much in the learning stage … but one thing I learned right away is that you need to establish a good hot bed of coals … then you can simply add an additional log as needed, and the fire will keep right on burning no problem.
The second thing I learned right away is that once a good hot bed of coals is established, the heater goes through approximately one log per hour. So, you have to pay attention. You have to keep an eye on the fire. This, of course, is a new and novel experience when it comes to heating our home … having to continually keep an eye on the heat source and keep adding fuel.
I have never once before thought about the forces at work to produce the heat for our home. It gets cold … we turn up the thermostat … the heat comes on … and we pay the resulting expenses in electric bills.
But now … watching something natural/wood being actively converted into heat energy … and then having to keep an eye continually on the fire to add another log each hour (sometimes sooner if necessary) … it has given me an entirely new perspective!
This is a lot like our spiritual lives. As Christians, we sing a lot of worship songs about God lighting a “fire” in our souls, being on “fire” for Christ, the “fire” of revival, etc. … But what this means is that we have to actually keep an eye on the “fire.” We have to pay attention to how well that “spiritual fire” is burning … … and if it needs more fuel, we need to add more fuel – God’s Word.
Hubby and I have a storage container sitting just outside our back door full of split firewood. So also, in the same way God has provided ample “spiritual firewood” … He has given us His Word full of spiritual “fuel” for our souls.
We just need to take the effort to go get a “log” and add it onto the fire. Or in other words, we need to take the effort to open up our Bibles each day and get a verse, a promise from God, an encouragement from the Scriptures.
We need to add that “log” to the “fire” in our souls. Or in other words, we need to think about and ponder that verse, that promise from God, that encouragement from the Scriptures. Just as the logs which I add to the wood-burning heater sit there and burn slowly, producing heat … so also, as we meditate on God’s Word and let it “burn” slowly in our souls throughout the day, our lives will produce a warming heat for those around us.
The wood-burning heater produces a cozy warmth, driving away the 30-degree chill and making our home a welcoming place. So also, as the “fire” of God warms our souls, via the Word of God “burning” in our hearts, others will be drawn to the warmth.
But that can only happen as we keep adding fuel to the fire. We have to pay attention to the state of our soul. We have to notice if the coals in our soul are getting cool from not having spent time with God. Perhaps the coals in our soul might have gone out completely. Get into the Word! Get some “kindling” from God’s Word and get those coals going again!
God has provided ample “fuel” … we just need to keep adding another “log” onto the “fire.”
Keep the “fire” of God burning brightly in your soul! Get into God’s Word every day! Meditate on God’s promises all throughout the day! And let the warmth of Christ change the atmosphere around you!
