Rekindling the Fire

Every year at Christmas time more than two billion people celebrate the coming of this mysterious man called Jesus, but hardly anyone has a clue about why he came. Christmas carols play in the marketplaces, "Peace on Earth, good will toward men," the merchants get richer, families and friends exchange gifts, polite parties pass the time, and life goes on as usual. Where's the fire? He came to kindle a fire that would light up this dark world with a demonstration of the life of God in a people who are completely at peace with one another while the world around them is in utter turmoil. It would be an electrifying, stimulating, shocking phenomenon that would cause division and controversy in every place where it spread. It would be like the fire that consumed Elijah's sacrifice on Mount Carmel,1 making a clear distinction between those who serve God and those who don't. Ultimately, it would bring about the end of the age.