Derek Smith
Lead Pastor
Ecclesiastes 7:5-6
It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.
For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool.
This also is vanity.
Recently we had a major storm roll through our area and with it some incredibly strong straight line winds. As a result there were many trees down and a large number of people without power for multiple days. Our home was no different. We had limbs and sticks down everywhere across our yard, so Chrystal and I rallied the kids and we had a clean up day at the house. We started a fire and off we went gathering all the downed wood. In order to get the fire started we took a big pile of twigs and lit them on fire first and once the fire got going we began to add the bigger stuff that would take much longer to burn. See, sticks and twigs are great for starting a fire, but the fire will soon burn out if you don’t add some substantial logs to the fire.
Solomon here talks about the foolish person, and he compares him to twigs and thorns. He is quick to catch fire, but soon he is consumed and is no more. The same is true for some people in terms of faith. Some quickly catch fire, display a bright light, and are very hot; however, when trouble comes they soon burn out and no longer serve the Lord. Our faith is measured not by how hot and bright we are at first but by how long we burn for God. The moral of the story is don’t be a twig. Consider the call of Christ to deny yourself and follow after Him then jump in with both feet. Lean into your faith even more when the fire rages. The question is not how quick do we catch fire but how long do we burn. Today, put another log of faith on the fire and keep burning for Jesus.