…That burned and yet was not consumed.

Fire. What does that make you think of? Hot, Massive licks of leaping flames that destroy homes and forests? Giant pyres of flame that burn up villages?

Or maybe you think of bonfires. Or fireworks. Or maybe you think of a cozy fireplace in front of a couch.

When I think of fire, I think of love. And the cool thing about both is that they come in different forms.

In chapel this morning, we had a good, old-fashioned, Pentecostal throwdown. The preacher shouted and stomped his feet… and called down the fire of God. And as I’m worshiping, I realized that fire, passion, love… they’re all the same. This preacher was, in essence, calling down the love of God upon us. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but God has really been challenging me on this subject of love.

So here I am, crying and praying, when it hits me: every bit of love that we experience here on earth serves as a learning experience. We learn what love is through relationships, so that we can know how to love God. Every experience that we share, every emotion that we feel, every sacrifice that we make… it’s so that we can better understand what it means to
know and love God.

I realize that this may not be as profound to you as it was to me, but as I was praying about this, I realized something more: God’s love is perfect. The imperfect love that we experience is nothing but a fraction of the Love that God has for us. The amazing, mind-blowing, earth shattering love that we can feel for another human… is absolutely infinitesimal compared to the love that God is.

This fire, this love, this passion, is the type of fire that is all at once consuming, peaceful, violent, calm, constant, life-changing,  and perfect.

I love  God. Which is pretty easy, since he himself is love. Thank the Lord for the relationships in my life that teach me more about Him.

That is all.