We live in the country and have been blessed with a very economical way to heat our home. Using a boiler unit we can heat our entire house with wood. No gas required and no gas bill! The trade off is filling up the wood box twice a day. The amount of wood needed to heat the home depends on the temperature outside. Warm days require less wood and cold days require more wood to heat the home. There have been times when it was so cold during the night, I’ve opened the wood box in the morning and there were only ashes... Not one piece of wood left! But, if I stir the ashes, I can see the fire smoldering under it. Let a little oxygen from the open door hit it and flames begin to be produced. Then I can add the wood and the fire gets bigger and bigger. The temperature on the side of the unit rises. And the house warms up.
This morning when I went to fill the fire box, I was humming the song “Fill Me Up” by one of my favorite worship singers, Kim Walker. I realized that, as Christians, we are like the boiler unit. The Holy Spirit is the fire and the wood is our sacrifice of praise. Each of us offers our sacrifice to God. When it’s cold outside, we need more wood. There are times that we think the fire has gone out, if we stir the ashes, leave the door (our heart) open, and add more wood (sacrifice of praise) the flames will get bigger and bigger! AMEN!
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 (Hebrew 12:28-29 NIV).
