“The fire must never go out on the altar....” - Leviticus 6:13
We started on the theme “Keep the fire burning” last month. However as I have meditated on this theme, I am convinced in my heart that we should continue on the theme this month.
I have asked myself these questions often, “How hot are you Rowland Henshaw?” “Rowland Henshaw is there fire in your bones?” These are personal questions I have and continue to ask myself. When I look at my Christian walk today, compared to my first encounter with God. I cringe in shame. Where has that fire gone, where is the passion I had when I first got saved? What happened to my first love?
You see people of God because I pray, read the word and come to Church services is not necessarily a sign of me being on fire for God.
Most times we use our attendances to meetings, our Christian clichés, our enthusiasm and other things we do to measure the fervency of our love for God. No! We cannot do that. I don’t want us to do that anymore, I want us to take the mask off and say it as it is. How hot am I for God?
Every time we encounter God, be it in our prayer closet, be it in a church service, be it in our car whilst driving and worshipping Him, His fire should rub off on us.
Moses encountered God and his life was never the same. He became a man on a mission burning red hot for God.
Exodus 33:17-18
So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
Moses could not have enough of God as the fire of God continued to burn in his heart.
Paul the Apostle was a persecutor of the Church a man with a mission, he had fire but it was for the wrong thing. One day on his way to Damascus to kill and arrest the disciples he encountered Jesus, and his life was never the same again.
Acts 9:3-6,
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
In the book of Isaiah 6, we are told of Isaiah's experience. In verse 1 it says “In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord....”
When Isaiah saw the Lord something changed, he looked at his human frailty and could not but bow before the creator of the universe, he saw himself encountering a Holy God. In His human frailty God touched his lips with fire. His life was changed forever.
"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send?
And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
One of the common trends in these three characters was their desire to do whatever God expected of them. They dropped everything and chased after that fire, until they were burning hot with passion for God. They were on fire for God.
They could not have enough of God; they knew that without God they were nothing. They kept the fire burning in their lives.
Whenever God reveals Himself to people it is meant to have a practical impact on their lives and those around them. It is never for a topic of conversation. It is to put fire in our heart, in our bones and stomach to keep us hot for Him.
Ask yourself this question. How hot am I for God?
