Strike the Original Match
- Tim Scott
- Mar 9, 2008
Picture this. You're in the woods with some friends. It's cold and there's no place to get warm. You're sitting in front of a bundle of wood and kindling. It has the potential of becoming a warm fire. You're no eagle scout, but if you can get this thing started...well, you'd save the day. So you try your hand at starting the fire. After repeated attempts to get it going, you're down to your last match. Then, a small draft blows that match out. So . . . maybe you're more like a cub scout. What do you do now? Everyone's comfort is on the line. And it's your fault there's not a warm fire. You look down at the pile of burned matches. Maybe, just maybe, one of them didn't burn and inadvertently fell on the ground. All of your friends are waiting for the fire. Laughing and talking together, they think it's funny that you're having a hard time getting the wood to flame. But they're also getting colder. They have no idea you're out of matches, and you don't want to admit you blew it.
You're looking down at the blackened tips of the matches, wondering what would happen if you tried to light one of them again. Is it possible to relight a match? You know that's ridiculous, but the urge to strike one of the burned matches is overwhelming. Just when you think you'll tell your friends that there won't be a fire tonight, the urge to strike a burned match against the box becomes intense. You know it won't work, but you pick one up anyway. It's cold and blackened. You hold the match against the striking pad and pull it slowly across the box. AND - nothing happens.
Looking at the cold tip of the match, you realize how crazy this is! But you have the drive to try again. It's nuts, but you have to do it! You place the match against the striking zone one more time. You pull hard and fast. From the other side of the bundle of wood, one of your now cool friends yells, "Get the fire going, we're freezing!" With those words ringing in your ears, you can't believe your eyes-the match has reignited! The flame seems larger than any you've ever seen! At first, you just sit and stare at the miracle flame. Then you realize that you need to light the wood! When you touch the flame to the bundle, immediately it bursts into a roaring fire! Of course, you receive the obligatory high-fives from your friends. But you can only sit in amazement, at what you know was an extraordinary event.
I know what you're thinking. That's absurd! You can't strike a burned out match. It's already been spent! But let me suggest that the futility of life, is found in those who do not believe that a life can be changed. Limited space prevents me from giving an exhaustive list of biblical principles on reigniting vitality, in a hopeless life. But I can give one major reason this hopelessness occurs.
Look back at the Garden experience of Adam. In Genesis 2:17, before Adam sinned, he was warned by God not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was told, "for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." Note that God said, "the day." But Adam lived another 900 plus years. So God was obviously speaking of a spiritual death, not merely the beginning of the physical death of Adam. This has to be understood in light of James 1:14,15. "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."
James reveals a spiritual principle about sin and death. He's using a biological metaphor in this passage, to describe the impact of sin. The metaphor is first noting conception; next, accomplishment (i.e., gestation); then birth and finally, death. We know that once a child is conceived, the inevitable reality is that there will be a birth. Likewise, once sin is conceived by lust, the inevitable and immediate result will be the birth of sin-which will ultimately result in the death of the sinner. This death is not physical, but spiritual. The soul deadens every time the believer sins. We can't expect to be vitally alive, while sinning wantonly against God and ourselves.
The point is simple. Life is not rich and full when sin abides in the behavior of the believer. We need a miraculous event to strike the passion and vitality of life. Short of stopping sin at the point of enticement, the best way to eradicate sin and its effect on our lives, is through repentance and confession. God does forgive and He restores the vitality of fellowship to the believer's soul. If we're going to experience the joy of the Christian life, we need the match to light twice. This is the miracle of the power of the blood of Christ. He restores us to divinely given life. Incredible! Let's strike the original match!
