An interesting passage in Proverbs caught my attention, such being chapter 30, verses 15 – 16:

“There are three things that are never satisfied, four never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water — and the fire never says, ‘Enough!’”

I would like us to focus our attention on the very last section of the scripture, such being the fire that is never satisfied. Fire is mentioned frequently in the Bible. Jesus is famously described by John the Baptist as one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit and FIRE (Matthew 3 v 11). In Acts 2 v 1 – 4, we read of the manifestation of this prophecy. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit saturated the disciples in the upper room with His glorious fullness, symbolising His baptism by appearing as flames of FIRE upon their heads. Now why would God symbolise such as fire? What is the reasoning behind this?

Fire is described in the book of Proverbs as being a power that is never sated nor satisfied. Indeed, if one lets a fire run rampant, it will burn and burn until there is no fuel left for it to consume. This is how we are to be as children of God when it comes to the evil in this world. You see, the fire represents the power of the Holy Spirit within us, while the fuel represents the sin, sickness and oppression running rampant in our world. As a mighty forest fire, we are to blaze across our families, work places and communities scorching out all hopelessness, hurt and despair, bringing with us the saving, healing and delivering power of a loving and merciful Father. As a fire would be relentless in its task of consuming, so we must be relentless in being the hands and feet of Jesus in a dying world. The Holy Spirit Himself will drive us onwards. He supplies the zeal and the power. We only need to cooperate with Him!