“The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.” Leviticus 6:12-13
When I was a teenager, it was my responsibility in the winter months to bring in wood from outside, fill the wood box and take out the ashes from the woodstove. Little did I know that my chores in those days bore a striking similarity to part of the job description of the priests in the book of Leviticus. Leviticus is not a popular book of the Bible to read for devotions; but it does reveal some powerful principles that can help believers grow in their relationship with God.
“The fire must remain on the altar. It must be kept burning and must not go out.” There are many scriptures that speak of maintaining our spiritual fervor. In Romans 12:11, we are instructed to “never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” In 2 Timothy 1:6, we are commanded to “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you.” As believers, it is imperative that we “keep the fire burning” in our relationship with God!
There are specific instructions in this section of Leviticus 6 that will help us to keep our “fire” burning for the Lord. In verse 11, there is a command to carry out the ashes each morning. As a teenager, I learned that if I neglected to clean out the ashes in the woodstove; they would eventually build up and choke out the fire. This verse reminds me that there are things in our lives that need to be removed daily. But if we allow them to build up, they can cause our passion for the Lord to die out.
This truth relates to 1 John 1:9 in which we are told, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If we allow unconfessed sin to build up in our lives—those things that should have been dealt with and removed could cause our fire for the Lord to begin to flicker and die out. Dealing with the ashes everyday relates to the principle of confession of sin.
In verse 12, we find the instruction to add fuel to the fire every morning. To maintain a close relationship with God, we must regularly spend time with the Lord in worship, prayer and reading the Word. This time with the Lord adds fuel to our spiritual fire and keeps the flame burning. Adding fuel to the fire every morning displays our devotion to our Savior.
The next instruction in verse 12 was to arrange that day’s offering on the fire. As children of God, we need to view each day as an offering to the Lord that should be planned and arranged to make the most of it. Every day is a blessing from God that should be lived intentionally and not haphazardly.
The final instruction from verse 12 is to “burn the fat.” No, this is not talking about getting on a treadmill. This is actually an instruction that encompasses all the others and declares that in every aspect of life, we should offer our very best to the Lord. The fat represented the most valuable part of an offering because in those days, fat was used to meet many kinds of practical needs related to cooking, making candles, medicinal salves and soap. Offering our very best each day by taking out the ashes (confession), adding fuel to the fire (devotion) and setting in order the offering of the day (intention) will keep our fire for the Lord burning brightly. Never allow your fire to go out!
