A Controlled Burn

 

Yesterday morning as I was driving around town doing some errands, I came upon the scene in this picture, it's what is called a controlled burn. Now, if you aren't in a farming community this may be a new phrase for you. So I'll explain the definition, but I wanted to share something God was teaching me as I was driving and praying after seeing this burn.

A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A controlled burn may also refer to the intentional burning of slash and fuels through burn piles. Definition from:Wikipedia

This particular burn was of an old orchard of citrus trees that had died off. They were no longer producing fruit, had become unhealthy, and in order to start fresh they needed to be burned so that the ground can be tilled and made new. Ready to once again produce fruit that is healthy.

And so that got me to thinking, and praying. How often in life do we stop producing fruit? We run and run, day after day, trying to win this race called life, putting out all the little fires as they come up, but are we missing something? Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to set a "Controlled Burn" on our souls? Burning off the edges of us that aren't producing fruit, the areas in which we need to grow, so that we can be made fresh and new in Jesus, healthy, ready to produce new fruit. Then this verse came to mind...

Matthew 3:11 ESV "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

I want to take a closer look at this verse for a moment... When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our whole life becomes new, we are different, our perspective changes. And that initial fire does burn for awhile, but life continues to happen around us and our sinful nature doesn't just vanish into thin air. We need repentance, true heartfelt, I don't want to live this way come to Jesus moments all throughout our lives. 

The thing I want you to notice in this verse though is the fire. The Holy Spirit brings the fire into your soul. He teaches you, whispers in your ear and to your heart the areas in which you need to change and grow. He uses others to speak into your life, the Bible to speak and minister to you. But we have to be open, ready for the fire to burn within us and burn away the old parts we need to change, where we can't produce fruit, or even where we stopped and started focusing on the here and now. But we have to stop focusing on the little tiny fires we have to put out every day, and instead on the fire the Holy Spirit is trying bring into our lives.

And Friend, I have a secret for you, every single one of us, no matter your background, race, religion, past... Every single one of us has this one thing in common... You ready?

We only get ONE life to live on this earth. Just one.

Our bodies age, get sick, and were not made to last forever, just our lifetime. But our souls, our part of us that makes us who we are, that my dear friends is Eternal. There is no race to be won, no amount of sleep or lack of it that makes you a winner ahead of the rest. No amount in your bank account, or how ripped your body is, none of it lasts, none of it actually makes you the winner, none of it goes beyond this life. The race has a deadline for us all, its how we use the time we have that matters.

So back to my original question... Are we trying to run this race called life so hard and fast we miss the controlled burn of the Holy Spirit in our lives challenging us to change? I can honestly say at different times in my life I absolutely missed it. I got caught up in the here and now, in emotions and heartbreak, or putting out the little fires in my life I missed the moments where God was saying "Hey you, stop for a minute and let's talk. I want to be the fire in your soul, not all these other things that have you twisted up." For me those moments where I finally stop and listen are humbling, and life changing. And I came to a conclusion today.

I don't want to be so caught up in this life, and the busy, and the chase, that I miss the burn of the Holy Spirit in me. Refining me, bringing me back to my call and purpose, helping me become new and produce new HEALTHY fruit. I don't want to be a diseased fruit tree in the garden just kinda getting by. I want a soul on fire for Him. 

How about you? Do you miss the controlled burn of the Holy Spirit in your life? Are you caught up in the race? 

I want you to know you are not alone, we all go through seasons. But eventually comes the season of pruning, of cutting out the dead and diseased within us, and a Holy Fire burn so we can produce the fruit He calls us to. 

John 15: 1-6 ESV “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."

A controlled burn, not one made by man, but of the Holy Spirit. To prune us, shape us, mold us into becoming more like Him, into the calling placed on our lives. 

I leave you with one question, and I don't expect an answer but it's what's been on my heart and mind ever since seeing this controlled burn...

Are you willing to let the things that keep you twisted up, not producing fruit, be burned away by the Holy Spirit so you can become new?

*Friend, if you are struggling or need help. Just ask. No judgement, I've been there! As I post this I am praying for everyone who will read this, and that means you! Know that you are LOVED, you have a PURPOSE. And someone out there is praying for you right now.*