2.25.26 – Never-Ending Fire

Each day of this week, we have focused on a different aspect of the priesthood (Ex. 27:20–30:10). One major responsibility was to keep the fire burning 24/7 on the altar (Ex. 29:38–42; Lev. 6:9, 12, 13). More to be said in this morning's Zoom call at 9:00 a.m. EST, 699 858 9149.

As a priesthood (Ex. 19:5–6; 1 Pet. 2:5–9), we are given instruction to continuously maintain a flame on the altar which stood in the Tabernacle, and later in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. For this purpose, the priest was required to place new firewood on the altar each morning in order to feed the fire (ish) for the tamid offerings.

In addition to its concrete and simple meaning of the continual fire on the altar for the 24/7 tamid offerings (Ex. 28:3; Rom. 8:36; Ps. 44:22):

"And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual (tamid) burnt offering."
(Ex. 28:3)

"As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
(Rom. 8:36)

There are many symbols related to the inner mindset of the Lord's people. This mitzvah (commandment) is no exception, and it captures a simple but profound truth about our daily thoughts → words → actions → habits → lifestyle → legacy.

"A constant fire shall burn upon the altar": the physical altar is a metaphor for the human heart—the space in each of us most capable of sacrificial living or rebellion. The heart, however, needs a continuous fire burning in it. For the human heart to live deeply, for it to feel empathy and experience the depth of love, it needs to be on fire—passionate, aflame.

But how? Inquiring minds want to know!!

There are times when our hearts and souls are inspired and aflame, but too often we feel numb and apathetic toward stoking the fire morning and evening. Sometimes we get cynical and detached. So, if that sounds and feels familiar, how do we maintain the flame and the inspiration on our own inner altar?

There is only one way: "The priest shall kindle wood upon it morning after morning" (Lev. 6:9, 12, 13). Each and every morning we must place "wood" on our altar in order to feed its potential flame. Fire cannot exist in a vacuum; the fire in our heart and soul, too, requires "wood" to sustain it and prevent our hearts from getting cold and indifferent toward one another:

"And because iniquity (Torahlessness) shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."
(Matt. 24:12)

What is the "wood" that is capable of feeding the soul's flames each morning? The spiritual disciplines of study, prayer, and charity/love. They are the morning encounters with the living Lord that allow the fire of the soul to hold on to something and take root in the human heart and mind, allowing our "wood-like temporality" to endure (Isa. 40:6–7).

Facebook, a cup of coffee, a few YouTube videos, and a Danish pastry, while answering emails, listening to the news, and washing dishes, do not quite do it if we want to keep the fire burning. They do not do the trick of turning on your soul, your inner depth. They may be a regular routine of your morning, but they lack the properties to bring out the flame of the soul. In the morning, before you do anything else, you need to engage in labor that will let the flame of your soul emerge (Job 23:12):

"Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food."
(Job 23:12)

Saying, "Good morning to my soul" must precede Good Morning America. Then you are set for the day! A wise man once said, "A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart." If your heart is aflame, your world that day—and every day—will be on fire. A former ministry partner, Ray Comfort, used to say, "If you want a crowd, put a man on a street corner, light him on fire, and the crowds will come to watch him burn."

And you must place the wood on your altar each morning, no exceptions. Consistency is the key to a meaningful and inspiring day. There are no shortcuts to inspiration; everything comes with a price. The only job where you start at the top is digging a hole. Our life, on the flip side, is about climbing mountains, not digging holes. And in climbing mountains, you must begin at the bottom.

If you have not started, do you not think it is a good idea to light the fire this morning?

Shalom,
Alan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4.4.26 ~ Can You Count to Three?

Image
Today, Saturday 4/4/26, many will celebrate the day that Yeshua was visibly seen risen from the grave (John 20:1; Matt. 28:1–10; Luke 24:1–10)! The day after His resurrection, Yeshua would be out ministering to the doubts of His disciples, helping them realize that He is alive and that the purpose of His resurrection would be catalyzed by their lives. For the disciples closest to Yeshua and those who stood at a safe distance away, it was a time of doubt. The enemy was in hot pursuit. They were fearful for their lives, but just at the God-appointed time, their salvation appeared.  Does that sound vaguely familiar? It should. Earlier this week, on the day after Passover—the 15th of the first month—the natural-born Israelites and those who joined them through the blood of the Lamb exited Egypt and headed toward the sea. In just a few days, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pharaoh would not be happy that he let the Israelites go; he felt betrayed, and he was hot (Ex. 14:5–9). Mose...
Read more

3.20.25

Good morning! Yesterday, we learned some essential truths about how to 'be still and know that He is God (Psa. 46:10). Today, I want to ask you a different question based on life's ability to throw a wide variety of circumstances at us!  One of the most difficult situations is when we are threatened by someone or some circumstance. Have you ever been threatened?  Oh, maybe no one came up to you with a gun, or shouted at you with malice, or told you that you were going to be tortured or punished.  Maybe all the threat you ever had was the innuendo of rejection, or the social snub or something much less violent than jail time.  But my guess is that if you are traveling the road with Yeshua, living a Torah lifestyle, you know what it means to be threatened. Every time the circumstances of your life look as though they are about to cave in, you are threatened.  It might not be a threat from a physical enemy, then again...but we all know that in one form or another t...
Read more

3.22.25

Good morning! Shabbat shalom! Although the portion of Vayakhel/and he assembled is almost entirely focused on the construction of the tabernacle, it begins by reminding the children of Israel that no work may be done on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:2,3). Why does it begin here rather than jumping right into how to construct the Tabernacle? Enquiring minds want to know :-) By placing the topic of the Sabbath against the construction of the Tabernacle it's God's way of defining the boundaries of the Sabbath...that even the most intimate work for the Lord needs to be put aside for His 'Date Day'. However, upon further investigation, there’s another layer to understand that connects us back to the golden calf (Ex. 32). As we know, while Moses was up on the mount getting the instructions from God the children of Israel decided to make an object that would replace Moses, their deliverer; The object, later known as the golden calf, originally intended as a 'necessary' means to ...
Read more