Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. James 1:15
Even from 70 miles per hour on the interstate, the sight was clear. The orange flames danced between the green blades; the white smoke billowed in the breeze. “Did I really see that?” I wondered. I pulled over, parked the car, and ran back to the scene of the crime. As I ran, I watched the cars continuing to rush by. “They have to see what I see; why is no one else stopping?” I stopped to grab a piece of plastic on my way. I certainly wasn't going to put out a fire with my bare hands.
Out of breath and in time, I snuffed out the small ring of fire. Still no one stopped. Or even slowed. I wondered, “What if I had not stopped?” The fire would have spread quickly and eventually out of control. All the while, we watch a firestorm brew. Yet, instead of stopping the blaze, we spread the blame. “Someone (else) should have stopped that fire,” we would mutter in contempt.
A small flame in the grass quickly became a view of anyone's life and soul. All around me are lives burning out of control. I may stop to soothe external disasters, but how often do I throw living water on their eternal flames? How much a more deadly fire rages to consume thousands of lives that I pass by every day? With the eternal vision of the Spirit residing in me, I can see the soul's fire spreading by the second. What if I don't stop and snuff out the enemy's destruction? Will anyone else who passes by this life stop and send a rescue?
The fire will either spread or stop. I pass by this way, by this person, by this life, because I was meant to reveal the One who “seeks and saves that which is lost.” That which is drowning, dying, decaying in darkness. Here I am, water in the smoke filled furnace of eternal combustion. Every life, every second counts. Speak Lord, your people are dying.
If grass consumed by fire is enough to bring pause, how much more is each beloved life worth saving from separation from God? How much more.
