God's Holiness is a Fire

Bill Bright

“The LORD your God is a devouring fire...” (Deuteronomy 4:24).

They were called the Great Fires of 1988. That year, wildfires swept through 1.4 million acres of Yellowstone National Park. The park was like a huge lumberyard filled with millions of wooden poles. Winds as powerful as a tornado whipped the flames through the forest with the sound of a freight train, reducing trees to piles of white ashes and small charred spears on the blackened earth.

But months later, the forest grew with new vigor. The heat from the fires split open the hulls of the pine cones, releasing their seeds and yielding a forest of little saplings sprouting everywhere. The dead underbrush had been burned away. New spears of grass turned the hillsides to spring green, and a bumper crop of wildflowers carpeted the meadows.

Anyone who has been near a fire of such magnitude understands its tremendous power. When it roars through an area, everything is changed. Ancient trees turn into cinders. Buildings are reduced to ashes. Nothing can withstand its fury. But in their wake, wildfires also bring new growth and regeneration.

God's holiness has even greater power. The fire of God can burn away sin and rebellion, but it also brings new life.

Of all God's attributes, nothing compares to the splendor and beauty of His holiness. It is chief among His attributes. That means His character is perfect in every way. He is totally pure. His moral excellence is the absolute standard of integrity and ethical purity. God's supreme holiness infinitely sets Him apart from His creation.

Your View of God Really Matters ...

How has the fire of God's holiness worked in your own life? Has He burned away things that were displeasing to Him and hurting you? Today, thank God for His holiness and absolute purity, which brings you new life.


Because God is holy,
I will devote myself to Him in purity, worship and service.


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Learn more about God’s character at Discover God, by Bright Media Foundation, an affiliate of Cru.

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Bright Media Foundation is an affiliate of Cru.

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