Hebrews 12:29

Hebrews 12:29 "for our God is a consuming fire."

As I read through this passage last night during my devotions, this particular verse stood out to me from the rest: God is a consuming fire. What does it really mean for the Lord to be a "consuming" fire?

As a consuming fire, these set of flames completely envelop the object that it is burning. The flames completely takes over the object being burned and in some ways can be interpreted as destroyed.

If the nature of the Lord is a "consuming fire," as followers of Christ, we must allow the Lord to consume our lives. He must destroy our sense of "self," the ego in us, and our selfishness. Since we are a part of the Body, we are no longer separate as individual selves. Therefore, since we are of the Lord, we must allow Him to take over us completely; we must relinquish control of our lives. For once we are consumed by the Holy fires, are we reborn anew, refined in the fires of redemption. This is the beauteous process of a God that works in our lives to make us perfect. He is not distant, but personal. He is not just there, but he is actively present. It is this God that I have chosen to accept as my personal savior, the key word being personal. For only He alone has the ability to save me from my sins and grant me the way towards perfecting myself to be more like Him.