When I first read this Gospel many years ago, I was really taken aback. Is Jesus condemning us to the fires of hell? Is He pitting us against each other to cause havoc? It really didn’t make any sense! Then I started to pray with this particular Gospel. And as I did, I realized that the fire that Jesus speaks about is the Gospel – it’s the Word of God. It challenges us to live our faith, not just say we are faithful.
I remember taking the Youth Group to Ocean City a few years ago. We went out to dinner, twenty high school kids and four adults. As we were about to start dinner, they all stood up and said out loud grace before the meal. Everyone around us stopped eating and bowed their heads. These kids were not embarrassed. They did not challenge anyone. They just let their faith, in a small way, show forth. They lit a fire in the lives of those in that restaurant. Do we say grace before our meals when at a restaurant? Are we willing to tell others that we believe in Jesus as our Savior? Doing these little things may cause division, especially with those who don’t believe or have fallen away from the faith. This may be a simple example of faith lived and expressed. We don’t have to rewrite the Bible. We just need to live it. That’s the challenge. That’s the fire in us all.