Consuming Fire

“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” Deuteronomy 4:24

God stands apart from me to a degree I cannot fathom. He is wholly other.

I am creature. I am fallen. I am as the grass.

God is infinite. He is righteous. He is perfect. He knows everything. He created everything. He sustains everything. He is holy.

He is worthy of all praise and honor.

Yet I often think of my sins as mere trifles. I consider my offenses small. I consider myself a good person.

Deuteronomy 4:24 shatters my false perception. I see in this verse my hopeless and ultimate destruction.

Yet I see something else.

Because of the forgiveness offered to me in Christ, Deuteronomy 4:24 reminds me of his lavish love.

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed…Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.”