The All Consuming Fire of Love
Have you ever read the book in the Bible called Song of Songs? If you have, then you know that it is a very passionate and consuming love story between Solomon and his bride. But, more importantly, it is said that it is intended to be a portrait of God's love for His bride, the Church. And really, when you get right down to it, it's about God's consuming love for each one of us, His children!
Song of Songs 8:6 (also known as Song of Solomon), says:
Fasten me upon your heart as a seal of fire forevermore.This living, consuming flame will seal you as my prisoner of love.My love is stronger than the chains of death and the grave, all consuming as the very flashes of fire from the burning heart of God.Place this fierce, unrelenting fire over your entire being.
God, the great Lover of our souls, has this kind of passionate, consuming love for us. He wants us, His Church and His children, to have that same kind of love for Him. It is exciting to know that He cares for us so deeply. We can see and feel God's love through the way He communicates openly with us through His Word and through prayer. We can see it by the way He carries us through our difficult trials and tribulations. Ultimately we see it because He gave His son, Jesus, to live, die and rise again in order to give us victory. He treats us with a consuming love, giving of His time, His treasures and ultimately His life.
In another Biblical passage, Deuteronomy 4:23-24, it says:
Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
The two passages above help us to see God's love as all-consuming. We are His passion. He is jealous for us, for our love. God IS love, and so it is He that is the passionate, all-consuming fire that overtakes us. If we continue in that strong and burning love, it will eventually overtake all the negative in our lives--the hurts, the disappointments, the anger, the grief, the sadness. God's love conquers all. He has an ongoing passion to win our souls with his undying, unconditional and unending love.
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As we grow more and more in love with God, the more consuming His love becomes. The more we allow God to consume us, the more we have the opportunity to convey His compassionate love to others. We can, in fact, begin to set the world ablaze, or "on fire," with His love. How can we do this? Well, it's easy for us to love those who already love us back.
Luke 6:32-36 advises us that we must do more than just love those whom are easy to love:
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
Yes, we have to love not only our friends, but our enemies too.
We have to strive to love those who are not so easy to love. Forgiving those in our lives who may not be so easy to forgive because of what they have done to us or how they made us feel. Focusing on sharing God's love rather than holding grudges and remaining in anger. I say that instead of always condemning people to the fires of Hell, why not bless them into Heaven? Why not pray for our enemies' salvation rather than wishing for their demise? You never know--your loving outlook just might change someone else's outlook on life. You never know whom you may touch with your positive attitude of love and kindness. By touching just one person with your Christ-like attitude, you can begin to change the world.
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Praying for our enemies and treating them better than they expect may slowly but surely begin to change them. One thing is for certain--more than anything, it changes us. It ensures that we begin to see others through God's eyes--through eyes of love.So, as we, God's people, become more consumed by His love, may a spark be ignited within us that will spread God's all-consuming, fiery, passionate love all around this world!