The perpetual fire

In the book of Leviticus, I came across one instruction regarding the Altar that caught my attention.  Leviticus 6:13 says, "A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out …."  The Lord instructs the priests to keep the fire burning five times in this paragraph.   That means even when they were wandering in the wilderness, they had to keep the fire burning.  It means even when the Levites were carrying the Altar, the fire had to be tended constantly and kept burning.  If it was such a necessary instruction, then I thought I must try to understand what  God meant by it.  My NKJV Study Bible gives three reasons for this. Firstly, the original fire on the Altar came from God (Lev 9:24).  Secondly, the perpetual fire symbolized the constant worship of God. Thirdly, perpetual fire represented the continual need for atonement and reconciliation with God, which was the purpose of the offerings. 

What does this mean to me today?

The Bible tells us in 1 Cor 6:13, "…. that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God …" When Paul writes to the Thessalonians, he says, "Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thess. 5:19). When we think of the whole body as the temple, I believe the heart is the Altar!  The disciples on the road to Emmaus, when they recollected their encounter with the risen Lord, they said, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32). The fire in our hearts burns when the Lord speaks to us.  We have to keep it constantly burning because it teaches us His precepts; it cleanses us and keeps our hearts holy, and it helps us live in constant adoration of the living God!  The desire for God should be burning in our hearts perpetually! 

My friend, sometimes when we read the Bible, the Words come alive and bring tears to our eyes, and we feel our hearts glowing with the Presence of God. But sometimes, we become so cold that what we read does not make our hearts burn!  We have to be careful about this because we cannot let this fire go out!  Let us ask God to set our hearts on fire and keep the fire going so that we can live holy, separated lives! 

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