The warm glow of the crackling fire that burns in front of me.
The warm fragrance of the steaming homemade peppermint mocha made for me.
The warm comfort of great friends who always open their home to me when I’m in town.
There is something about the combination of warmth in those three things that bring sweet contentment to me, body, mind and soul.
It got me thinking about how Jesus can instill those three things in us, that internal warmth, in even more meaningful and profound ways:
THE CRACKLING, BURNING FIRE: Luke 24:32 – “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” – These men had encountered Jesus after His resurrection and didn’t know it was Him until later when they were eating with Him. His WORDS burned in their hearts – a warmth that they couldn’t get enough of and couldn’t keep quiet about. If I am reading and listening to what He says to me, there will be a fire in me that will burn with a warmth that draws others into its glow.
THE FRAGRANCE: 2 Corinthians 2:15 – “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” We are meant to be the aroma of Jesus to everyone around us. When people breathe in our presence they catch a “whiff” of Jesus Himself. Our burning hearts that beat with His love, His words, His character, leave behind a pleasing fragrance that will cause people to want to know its source.
THE FRIENDSHIP: John 15:15 – “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” How utterly amazing that Jesus has called us friends! He shares with us everything that the Father wants us to know! We are in on the secrets of God Himself! And He entrusts us with sharing His secrets with others. His Good News. His friendship. The warmth of His minute by minute presence in our lives.
I will sit sweetly content by this blazing fire with my peppermint mocha in my dear friends’ chair. But I will bask in the fire, fragrance and friendship of Jesus who satisfies my very soul…
