The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence. The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us. This would lift us out of our pitiful narrowness and cause our hearts to be enlarged. This would burn away the impurities from our lives as the bugs and fungi were burned away by the fire that dwelt in the bush. – A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit Of God
A simple thought today. Not one to change a belief system, or alter the course of one’s destiny (Calvinists should be happy with that line since I said destiny, and Arminians should be happy since I mentioned altering it).
This is a thought I have been pondering since a phone call with a friend a few weeks ago. He and I had been reading A.W. Tozers “Pursuing God” (one of the best books in the universe, by the way). He called me as I was sitting in the drive through of our bank and asked, “Why does this guy compare God to fire? I thought that was the symbol for the devil.”
The question really caused me to think and admit, that our culture really does associate fire/flames with evil and satanic (I don’t capitalize that name on purpose, just so you know).
I’m sure its because of our Holoywood-esque images of hell.