A Fire In My Bones

"If I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,' there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." Jer 20:9

What do you do if a verse like Jer 20:9 attaches itself to your mind and heart like an insatiable animal and any thought that turns Godward is filtered and framed by this thought?

What do you do when verses like Rom 8:18 & 23 or 2 Cor 5:2-4 press on you and ask you "why are you so content?"

What do you do if a verse like Ezk 22:30 cuts to your heart and the Spirit asks where were you?

What do you say when your Savior says “Do you want to go away as well?” (Jn 6:67)

I ask these questions not from a place of despair, but from a place of hope and promise. God is pressing on me (isn't He always) to ask these and other reformational questions. Not the Luther, Calvin, et. al. reformation, but the personal, don't drift away, always be growing in Christ reformation. I am finding more and more that my soul is a wasteland and yet the oasis of the gospel is slowly and steadily irrigating and cultivating it for the glory of God.

By the way, these may be your questions, but you may have others. Don't run from them. Embrace them in the power of the Spirit. God is not afraid of your questions and His Word, if we choose to hear what it says, has the answers that will bring us closer to Him.

I do have one warning though. If there are no questions, if God is not drawing you closer by challenging you in your walk with Christ, if you don't see the thousand ways you fall short each day, you should be concerned. Stop and pray and ask God to peel back the scales that have formed over your eyes. Ask Christ to show you again the beauty and the majesty of His grace and mercy and love. Ask the Spirit to push and to prod so that your life, both internally and externally grows in conformity with Christ. And hang on!

To God Alone be the Glory