FIRE!

I’m scribbling this from Pittsburgh, where I’m visiting friends. Today, it was cold, dreary, cloudy, and wet. Reminded me of Aberdeen in bonnie Scotland. (No wonder Texas always looks/feels good!)

Anyhow …

One good thing (among many) about the abode of my friends was the blazing fire in the hearth. Ban the cold, I say. Away with temperatures below 80˚F (27˚C). A pox on winter. Fire. Cosy and comfortable. Balmy and blessed. Good fire.

But the same entity that provides bright bliss also is the agent of dire distress. Wildfires. Arson. Conflagrations. Bad fire.

Good and bad fire. And so it is, even in the Bible.

A “bad” fire is on the horizon.

But who can endure
the day of His coming?
And who can stand
when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire ….
Malachi 3:2

But thanks be to God! Believers have been saved from the fiery wrath of God by the sacrificial payment of their sins on the cross by God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ.

… there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

Yet there is a fire for believers—in this world—a fire that purifies, a fire that refines, a fire that disciplines. A “good” fire.

In this you greatly rejoice,
even though now
for a little while, …
you have been distressed
by various trials,
so that the proof of your faith,
being more precious than gold
which is perishable,
even though tested by fire,
may be found to result
in praise and glory and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:6–7

This “good” fire we can expect. It will come. Sooner or later. A strengthening fire. A stretching fire.

Beloved, do not be surprised
at the fiery ordeal among you,
which comes upon you
for your testing,
as though some strange thing
were happening to you.
1 Peter 4:12

This “good” fire will also test our works for potential rewards.

Now if any man builds
on the foundation
with gold, silver,
precious stones, wood,
hay, straw, each man's work
will become evident;
for the day will show it
because it is to be
revealed with fire,
and the fire itself will test
the quality of each man's work.
If any man's work
which he has built on it remains,
he will receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:12–14

And, one day, the fire of God’s judgment will signal the end of time, the Bible teaches.

But the day of the Lord
will come like a thief,
in which the heavens
will pass away with a roar …
and the earth and its works
will be burned up.
But according to His promise
we are looking for
new heavens and a new earth,
in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter 3:10, 13

Peter assumes that if the end is coming this way, soon and very soon, there is a mandate for the kind of life we ought to be leading.

Since all these things
are to be destroyed in this way,
what sort of people
ought you to be
in holy conduct and godliness,
looking for and hastening
the coming of the day of God …!
2 Peter 3:11–12

The fire’s a-comin’. The end approacheth. Look for it. Hasten it.

Therefore, since we receive
a kingdom which cannot
be shaken, let us show gratitude,
by which we may offer to God
an acceptable service
with reverence and awe;
for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:28–29

“Good” fire … and “bad!” So … holy conduct and godliness, reverence and awe.