Hebrews 12:28-29 (NIVUK)
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’
At the heart of our Harvest service on Sunday was our thanksgiving for what God has given us. On the day, this was primarily our food, but Hebrews places this is a much larger context, the gift of God’s emerging kingdom, a world which accepts and follows his ways. The quote ‘God is a consuming fire’ comes from Deuteronomy 4:24. This describes the folly of idolatry, of putting other things where God should be. Thanksgiving is a great preventative measure. When we give thanks, we remind ourselves that all that we have comes from God, reminding us of his priority. To say that he is a consuming fire, is not to be taken literally, that God burns all that turn from him, it is a metaphor, reminding us of the inevitable outcome of placing our trust in fallible limited things, rather than in the eternal goodness of God.
Set aside today as a day of thanksgiving, making a conscious effort to thank God for all good things that occur, big or small. You won’t succeed, but it may open your eyes to his generosity.
Leave a Reply