Bacon, Eggs and God

Has Your Fire Gone Out?

For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping…

The ashes were as constant and familiar to the psalmist as the eating of his bread. Possibly he sat down among them, as mourners often did, so the ashes were mingled with his food; as were his tears mingled with his drink.

Ashes remind us of something that once was, but is no more. The ashes on the altar in the Old Testament represented various burnt offerings given to God. Those sacrifices were now past; only the ashes remained. The person who made the offering could not live on the ashes. No one can live on the ashes of yesterday’s sacrifices. There must be daily sacrifices, fresh ones, if we are to please God.

One of the responsibilities of the priests in the Old Testament was to never let the flame on the altar go out, because the flame represented the presence of God. The flame was to burn day and night. Daily, the priest would remove the ashes from the altar and take them outside the camp. Why? Because if the ashes were not removed…the flame would go out.

My grandparents heated their house with a coal-fired furnace and cooked their meals on a wood burning stove. When I stayed with them, one of my chores was to remove the ashes. I learned early on in life about the importance of removing the ashes in order to have a good fire. It was something that had to be done daily.

It seems that many folks are living on the blessings of yesterday’s sacrifices.

They need to remove the ashes from the altar of their lives.

And if the fire has gone out, it is time to re-kindle it again!