Are you Fireworks or Eternal Flames?

Apr 12, 2016 | Patriotism

To Christians: 

Are You Fireworks or Eternal Flames?

There’s something magical about those brilliant colors exploding against the dark sky. But there’s a problem with fireworks. They don’t last. They go up, burst brightly, make some noise and disappear even as the “oohs and ahs” fade away. The same is true of many of the “fireworks” experiences in our lives. We fight and struggle for things that seem beautiful and alluring, but after we get them, their appeal disappears, just like fireworks. Maybe it’s a shiny new car or speedboat. Maybe it’s a big, impressive house. It might even be a promotion at work or a prestigious career.

So many of the things of this world are like fireworks. They promise happiness and fulfillment but can’t deliver. TV commercials play on our emotions, making us believe that if we drive a certain kind of SUV or clean our floors with their super-efficient mop, we’ll be happy at last. More often than not, all we feel is disillusioned.

If you’ve had enough of these “fireworks” experiences and the letdowns that follow, I challenge you to pursue the only thing in life that doesn’t disappoint: a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The astounding thing about loving God is that it actually gets better every day. Once you give your heart to Jesus, you’ll have joy and contentment that lasts into eternity, and you’ll never want to go back to “fireworks” experiences again. Pursue being an “eternal flame” Christian.

It was a torridly hot afternoon on July 3, 1938, when former Union and Confederate soldiers met to dedicate the “Peace Eternal in a Nation United” memorial on the Gettysburg, PA battlefield during the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the battle. President Franklin D. Roosevelt lit the eternal flame.

Probably the most well-known in the U.S., the eternal flame to commemorate President Kennedy in the United States lighted in 1963, was the first time in the world that an individual person was given such an honor.

Eternal flames exist nature as well, as by-products of natural gas deposits leaking through the ground.So, the question is raised:  Are you a “fireworks” Christian, burning brightly, quickly, when emotions are high, but fizzling out as quickly when trials and temptations come?  Or are you an “eternal flame” Christian that walks faithfully with God every day, all the days of your life as an authentic “light of the world?” (Matthew 5: 14)

“The Father … does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all He created.” (James 1:-17-18)