Purify Us, Lord

I don’t know if you have ever had the joy of sitting around a campfire, watching the flames dance around and seeing the tiny sparks jump from the flames. There is always a little smoke that goes with that. I don’t like it directly in my face, but there is something about that smoke smell that brings back memories of yester-year. That same smoke that comes from a forest fire that settles in the air around me for several days loses that nostalgic feeling. Pretty much the same smell, but now it is suffocating, irritating, and dangerous. I know that there were many that experienced weeks and even months in Northeast Minnesota, some having health issues due to a constant barrage of smoke. You see, what might have seemed nice, or at least acceptable as a small campfire becomes destructive as the impurities remain in the air around us. How do I find relief? I could relocate, but there could be fires there as well. I could try to put on a special mask that can filter the air out for me, but this is both expensive and irritating. We could wait for the winds and weather patterns to change, but the smoke would continue to be a threat. The best and most complete action would be to put out the fires that are burning in Canada and causing our polluted air here. The source must be stopped and the air must be renewed. What if that fire represented sin that pollutes our lives. How do we find relief? We can’t run away from it for sin will follow us and maybe even lead the way. The mask we might use could be the sacrificial system of the Old Testament that removed the sin, but Jesus states that the sin beforehand had not been punished. Helpful, but not a final solution. We could wait for Jesus to return, but what do we do in the mean time. As the putting out the fire was the solution for the smoke, Jesus fulfilling the law and sacrificing himself snuffs out the power of sin for those that truly believe. Just as Canada claims they are not able to put out the fire, so we are unable to snuff out the consuming power of sin... but Jesus can. Isaiah 53 tells us, “...the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Our hope, Psalm 51, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Father, forgive us when we don’t recognize the stench of our own sin and how it threatens to destroy us. Help! Amen