Firefighters for Christ – Part 1

There sure are a large number of massive wildfires currently raging in the state of California. This week, Michael writes a related message for us all. He explains that an ambassador is the highest raking official sent from his sovereign Lord to represent his homeland in a foreign land. As Christians, we are citizens of Heaven. According to 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

A professional firefighter reminded us that, not only are we ambassadors for Christ, but we are also the Lord’s firefighters. A firefighter wears protective clothing to be able to get close to the fire. The temperature near the fire will exceed 1000 degrees. Fighting a fire is a team effort. A firefighter is a student of forcible entry to save a structure or prevent a fire from spreading. To be a successful firefighter for God requires that we have been through the fire, for Jesus said, you shall be baptized with (immersed in) the Holy Spirit and with fire.  Fire in the Word of God in the Holy Bible symbolizes refinement. We have been refined by the Blacksmith's flame. God himself is the refining Blacksmith.

Fire is also a destructive force that the devil uses for his own purposes, for the thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill and to destroy. In the recent Thomas fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara, in one night 250 houses were destroyed in the neighborhood where his Fire Engine crew was stationed. The Thomas fire was the biggest fire in California's recorded history. There was one old man with a garden hose who refused to evacuate. Firefighters commanded him to leave but he said, "I'm a retired firefighter and I've got this." He had taken a stand against the fire with his grandson. One firefighter warned him that if you don't evacuate, you'll die in this fire. The old man refused to leave. When the firefighter’s commander ordered his engine unit to evacuate the area, they saw through the smoke someone walking down the hill from the neighborhood. That person was the old firefighter's grandson. The grandfather had driven out of the tract and said he would come back to pick up his grandson, but the fire would have prevented him.  

As that firefighter and his crew were evacuating, they saw the shadowy movement of someone inside of one house. They stopped their fire truck and discovered an old lady in the house. She had no clue that there was a fire and that she was in imminent danger. This is similar to Christians in the church who have no clue that the devil is lurking right outside their door. As firefighters for Christ, God expects us to be prepared to rescue His people from the flames of unrepentant sin and spiritual death raging around us. To prepare, we need to set our affections on things above and not on the things of this world.

Let's continue Michael's message on being a "Firefighter for Christ" in the next post.

In Christ, Brian