A brilliant fire never fails to attract attention. Shimmering stars in a cloudless night are wonderful, but they rarely garner the "oohs" and "aahs" of a golden, firey meteor streaking across the sky. It catches our eyes, and refuses to let them go. Similar mesmerizing powers can also be found in fireworks, as the lighted missiles scream into the expanses above and explode into marvelous colors and patterns, temporarily turning darkness into blinding light. More "oohs" and "aahs".
We also like to use fire as a metaphor for other phenomena of brilliance. A famous professor, entertainer or politician may be described as having a "meteoric" rise in prominence, stature or achievement if he or she seemingly comes out of nowhere to become a dominant presence. An exceptional performance in the concert hall, the ballpark, the stage, the courtroom, the racetrack or the pulpit, and a person or team is described as being "on fire". It feels good to be on fire, because you are achieving greatness in something, and everyone seems to be watching you step head and shoulders above everyone else. It is a feeling that one cherishes...
...because it doesn't last. Unfortunately, most fires eventually go out. A star will spend only a very short part of its lifespan as a white-hot supernova before it shrinks into a white dwarf, and eventually into a black hole. The superstar celebrity loses his or her grasp on prominence, and gets replaced by someone else who flashes upon the scene. The on-fire performance becomes a once-in-a-lifetime event, never to be repeated by the same person. If we forsake all sensibilities and work ourselves to the bone to try and fan ourselves into flame again, we are perceived as a candle being lighted on both ends. We burn out. We get consumed. Spent ashes we become.
Burnout and decay appears to be the inevitable end of human endeavors. However, there is a fire that burns but does not consume.
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” (Exodus 3:1-3)
The bush was probably just a plain, regular bush. If it was set on fire, it would burn into ashes, just like any plain, regular bush. However, the fire was from God, and the bush was not the fuel. It would burn brilliantly for however long the Lord wanted the fire to remain on the bush.
May our lives be like the bush, faithful and obedient to being used by God for His purpose, that we may be instruments for His glory. May we not endeavor in the quest for our own brilliance, lest we have little to show for in the end but smoke and ashes.
