Catching Fire

by Erik Carlson

When I was eight years old I got into the biggest trouble of my young life. The ‘incident’ began with me hanging out with two neighborhood boys who were three years older than me. We found a lighter and as all young pyromaniacs do, we decided to light things on fire. It started with a little piece of paper, then next was a black tarp which was exciting to burn as it elicited a high-pitched noise as it melted. After the tarp, the next fire target was a stack of old newspapers. Unfortunately for us, the newspapers were stacked next to a garbage can holder (which was wooden) that had many more newspapers along the bottom of it. Finally, this holder was also situated right next to a wooden fence. I’m sure you can guess what happened next. Just thinking about it, makes me cringe. How could we have been so dumb? So naïve? So irresponsible?

Well, the newspaper was lit on fire, which caught the other newspapers on fire which lit the garbage can holder on fire, which then lit the fence on fire. It was at this point where we three boys started to panic. We didn’t know what to do, so we stood there almost frozen. Eventually, I started to scream and yell for help as I realized this could get much worse as the fence was connected to the house. One of the other boy’s father heard and I still can picture to this day him leaping over the other side of the fence with a hose and spraying the fire out. He saved the day.

Looking back, this story makes me cringe, yet it sheds insight into who I am and it resonates with me today as a teaching moment. I want to translate it into our faith journeys. We may have a small habit that seems innocuous, like posting an opinion or something on our social media. Then we take it a step further and post something that someone might take offense to, but not too bad. Then that can lead to us posting genuinely offensive, or name-calling opinions. I have witnessed this behavior more and more recently, especially during the rather divisive presidential election. I think it is that kind of stuff that really is destructive and using the analogy, is catching the fence on fire.

Luckily, we have a God that sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. We have a God that loves us including all of our transgressions and mistakes. I believe Jesus is jumping over fences with a hose in hand ready to put out the fires. As I am writing this devotion, the song “Jesus Saves” by Jeremy Camp is running through my head. We all have been saved by Jesus, not because of anything we have done or will do, but simply because of God’s grace. Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is by the grace of God.” It is our duty as Christians to share that grace with others. Shower others with that love. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love one another as I have loved you, so let’s do that.

I want to challenge you in the next week to share a post about one of your Instagram or Facebook friends. Share what makes that person a friend of yours, what might be something they do extremely well. I would love to see my social media filled with positivity because that, I believe, is what Jesus would want. Share love and spread love in any and every way possible.

In peace,

Erik Carlson
Student Life Coach

Featured song: Jesus Saves, Jeremy Camp. JeremyCampMusic, artist's YouTube channel.

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