-The Invisible Realities-

Hebrews 12:29

"For our God is a consuming fire."

How is one consumed by God?

I wonder this, and in my mind's eye

I see a flame eagerly devour the wood

Until every last vestige of usableness is gone.

Ashes remain, but a wind blows

And even they mist into the wind in a moment.

I see the shore disappear beneath

The relentless, gentle licking waves...

It will reappear in the morning, but

As a different shore than it ever was.

The pattern I drew on it this evening will melt

In the ocean's methodical feed.

I see the green earth consumed by cold

Until the laced fingers of frost have painted

A once-colorful landscape with dull browns and grays.

Nothing remains but the sentry-like branches,

Nakedly trembling before the icy breath that stripped them bare.

How will I change, Lord, when you have consumed me?

How can I be consumed by You?

To say it; to pray it; to wish for it is one thing.

But the acting out of it in my daily life...

Is a mystery to me.

The earthly thought of consumption is frightening:

The loss of identity; life; beauty.

The log turned ash-

The shore's pattern eternally erased-

The Summer's verdancy forever past.

But this consumption of soul and spirit is initiated and performed

By the beautiful, kind, holy One whom my soul loves.

Through my melding into Him,

I will lose the ugly wretchedness of death.

So like the log, the sand, the landscape,

I quietly submit to this consumption.

I seek it, even.

I know life will follow.

If you can look past the 'fro and suspenders,

I think you will be amazed by this heart cry!

You can click here to read the life story of Keith Green, if you've never heard of him.