Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his
clothes being burned?
Proverbs 6:27
For over 500 years, Mount Pinatubo sat silently on the
island of Luzon in the Philippines. Once a tremendous volcano, now residents of
the tiny villages surrounding the great tower looked upon the mountain as just
a dormant pile of ash and rock. It just wasn’t something they worried about.
That is until the afternoon of June 15, 1991 when Mount
Pinatubo erupted in the second largest volcanic explosion of the 20th
century – twice the power of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption.
The tremendous release of power blasted an entire cubic mile
off the mountaintop. The earth shook for eight hours – that’s an eight hour
earthquake! The newly awakened volcano produced an ash cloud rising 50,000 feet
above the earth. If all that were not enough, Typhoon Yunga struck the island
on the same day with fierce winds and torrential rains, mixing with the ash
creating what the locals now call “Black Saturday.”
Consequences of the eruption were catastrophic. For
instance, the United States was forced to abandon and eventually close Clark
Air Force base, located just a few miles from Mount Pinatubo, because of the
impenetrable blanket of fallen ash.
When an expert was asked about the widespread damage and
destruction, he said something very important, “When a volcano is silent
for many years, people forget it’s a volcano and begin to treat it like a
mountain.”
Definitely words to live by!
We have to be aware of how sin has the potential to erupt in
our lives, no matter how long it has been dormant. It’s a deadly mistake to
ignore this possibility simply because we have lived without committing
long-ago sins – even for decades.
We must remain steadfast until our dying day. That means we
can never forget the danger that lives within us and around us at every moment.
Like a volcano, sin has the potential to burn – and burn severely – at any
moment. That is why the scripture above is so important. It reminds us that
there is no way to play with fire without going up in flames!
That’s what sin does. And no matter how long it’s been since
it erupted in your life, don’t ever forget that sin is never dormant. Fortunately,
Jesus has you covered. He is always there to protect you in any storm,
earthquake, explosion, or any other disaster that makes its way into your life.
Our Lord is the only place to go when sin comes creeping in or just blows up in
your face. That’s why the great Theologian D.L. Moody wrote, “When you’re
thinking sin, think scripture!”
Remember, the enemy is never dormant . . . and neither is
sin. The best thing to do is study God’s Word. Let it sink deep within your
soul, your mind and your heart. And there the Lord Jesus will reside . . . and
you will experience a new kind of fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit.
