One Small Flame
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When I was a boy I loved to play with fire. Now that I think of it, I still like it. I spent my preteen years in a house on Elm St. in Bay City. We had a fireplace and I loved it. It was so cool to help light the fire and then throw stuff in to watch it burn.
This particular fireplace had a natural gas line that ran to it and my dad used it to light the wood. Of course, I was fascinated.
When I was old enough to start the family fire on my own, I too cheated and used the gas to get it going. One of those times I took too long to strike the match and wham! A fireball rolled out of the fireplace and had me ducking for cover. Luckily, no damage was done.
Fast-forward several years to my adult life. One day I was going to grill some burgers. I fired up the pit and went in the house. When I returned the fire had gone out so, being a genius, I squirted lighter fluid on the coals, stood close, and tossed in a match. This time a fireball flew out singing my hair and eyebrows.
Needless to say, I now pay close attention when dealing with fire. Over the years I’ve heard other stories of how a single flame caused massive devastation. A few years back a little boy lit a two-cent match in his back yard that caused $100 million in damage. One small flame can grow into one large catastrophe.
James 3:5-6 says that our tongue can be just as destructive. Your words can be like little flames that have the potential to burn relationships to the ground. Folks, relationships are precious. Consider your words carefully. Once you toss the match you can’t pull it back, and the resulting burns are among the most painful and difficult to heal.