Day 7: Walking in Fire

"And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:" Matthew 3:10-11

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Fire has two very significant facts. It can be useful for a number of things like keeping you warm, cooking food, getting rid of dead branches from most trees. Another fact is it can be destructive. It can burn down houses, it can hurt people, it can get out of control. Of course the intention of most people is to use it for the right reasons, but we can't always determine what the fire will do (many forest fires are started like this sadly).

When we see John the Baptist in these verses of Matthew, he is asked to who he is, some assuming he is the promised Messiah. John emphasizes two different kinds of fire here. The first is in verse 10 where he says that bad fruit (that is those that are not baring righteousness in their lives through Christ) will be cut down and thrown into the fire. The only thing you can do with dead trees is to cut them down and burn them. What a scary thought, that without Christ, you are a dead tree. Your roots are in bad soil and your fruit is rotten. With Christ you become a whole new tree! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.".

But John talks about a different kind of fire in verse 11 of the 3 chapter of Matthew. He says that when the promised Messiah does come, He not only will be stronger, but He will baptize us with the Holy Ghost and FIRE. Now if we read this out of context we can think that God is simply just going to cut every tree down because He thinks we all have bad fruit. But those that are saved know that good fruit comes THROUGH Christ. (John 15:5)

In essence, if we have Christ, the only fire that can touch us is not the fire of death or of hell, but the fire of affliction, and because we have Christ and that's the only fire that can touch us, we know and are certain that we will have victory even through the hottest of flames. For Christ will be with us in the fire. "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Daniel 3:25

Have comfort and know that though God has you in the fire, you can walk around freely.