Spiritual Strength For Each Day
“Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt-sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench” (1 Kings 18:38).
Here we see Elijah standing in the midst of the people on Mount Carmel, and hear him call to the people, “Come near unto me” (1 Kings 18:30). Not much is said about the burnt-offering on the altar and the fire that overcame all the obstacles that would normally resist it—the wood, stones, dust and water—because the whole offering was on the altar.
Today, the hindrances are great. Earthly attitudes, portrayed by the dust; stubbornness, portrayed by the stones; weakness, portrayed by the wood; even the water, the element opposite to fire, which in this case is unwillingness, is no obstacle for the fire from above, because the burnt-offering is there.
When the meal-offering (Numbers 5:15), willing surrender, is united with the burnt-offering, complete surrender, it is also capable of staying on the altar. The willing surrender and the whole surrender bind us fast to the altar of God: as it is written, “Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:27). In this way we are bound to the Lord, bound to the place where He meets us.
