There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up … God called to him from within the bush … Exodus 3:2, 4
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Revelation 22:17
God got Moses' attention with the flames that didn't burn up the bush. Once He got Moses' attention, He called to him from within the bush. J.D. Walt recently wrote that we are called to be burning bushes too.
"The only reason the Word of God has been bound into books is so it might become unbounded in our hearts, our minds, our very flesh and blood bodies and unleashed through our lives in the world. We are meant to become living bearers, holy manifestations, burning bushes, Spirit filled fiery pillars of the Living Word of God who is Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah." -- J.D. Walt, The Only Problem with the Bible1
We are meant to become burning bushes, givers of light that are not consumed, God drawing through us.
Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:14
… you shine as lights in the world as you hold forth the word of life … Philippians 2:15-162
There is another way that we become light in the world. When we become living sacrifices and God's cleansing fire falls on us.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 (ESV)
And just as people were drawn to the burning bush, they are drawn to the flame of the sacrifice and can turn to the Living God. In the story of Ezekiel and the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18:16-39) there is a foreshadowing of this drawing when fire from heaven fell and burned up Ezekiel's sacrifice, and the adherents of Baal worship confessed that the Lord is God.
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!" 1 Kings 18:38-39
Oswald Chambers wrote of the call of God coming out of the flames of yielding.
"If you abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, 'Come,' then He will continue to say, "Come," through you. You will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ's 'Come.' That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus." Oswald Chambers
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Revelation 22:17
… for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29
But maybe you are wondering, as I did, if God is a consuming fire, why wasn't the bush consumed, why wasn't it burned up? Why aren't we burned up on the altar? I think it is because God is life and light and love, and what He burns up is sin and darkness and anything that is harmful and keeps us from Him. Only the ropes that bound Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were burned in the fire, but they walked with Jesus in the fire unharmed (Daniel 3:22-25).
If we cling to the things that God's holiness consumes and refuse to yield, we will get burned - and consumed with them in the end. Or, at the least, we will be left with nothing as the "wood, hay, and stubble" are burned up (1 Cor. 3:12-15).
But if we put ourselves on the altar as a burnt offering and let His fire fall on us, we are cleansed and purified and set free. We are called to be burning bushes, to be burnt offerings on the consuming fire of His altar, a witness to His transforming power, His glorious majesty, and His unfailing love. And the more we let him burn away the darkness, the purer the flame, the brighter the light. And the needy, hurting, imprisoned people of the world are drawn to the light of the fire and we are able to call out to them from our burning bushes, "Come!"
… his word is in my heart like a fire … Jeremiah 20:9
The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Leviticus 6:12
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit … Acts 2:2-4
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Revelation 22:17
1 https://seedbed.com/the-only-problem-with-the-bible/
2 Berean Study Bible
Photo, Flame by Annie Roi https://flic.kr/p/9VB6y7
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