Strange Fire

Outside my window, the snow is falling soft, a quiet day for Colorado.  Okay, so it goes beyond quiet, to sad, and just downright humiliating.  What went wrong? 

Maybe they thought that to change their game would confuse their component, but I fear they only confused themselves.  As a Seahawk put it, "we got here on our defensive game, so why change it?  We will keep doing what got us to this place."  Wise words.  It seemed the Broncos changed their game plan and it killed them. 

I wonder what happened in practice the two weeks before?  Did they spend their energies on the wrong focus?  

I do not want to get caught in this trap, pouring out energy on futility.  How sad to strive and work towards what I think will accomplish the goal, only to end up chasing the wind. 

This reminds me of some guys in the Bible who also changed their game plan, Nadab and Abihu, priests of the Lord.  They decided to burn the wrong kind of fire, and as a result, were struck dead before a holy God.  Aaron, their father, was then instructed to distinquish between the sacred and the common.   (Lev. 10:1-2, 10)

I've been expending a lot of fire lately on ministry:  to children, to youth, to writing, and to my local church.  Good fire.  The work of the Holy Spirit kind of fire.  Yet, I'm concerned that I have treated my family as common, when God deems them sacred.  

Realizing the sacredness of my family gives me a whole new perspective on what I do at home.  When I wash dishes, do laundry, or cook meals, I am treading on holy ground!  But when I leave no energy for my family, then somewhere, I am burning strange fire.  When all is said and done, I do not want to have missed the game plan, expending energy for that which does not result in the desired end. 

I am still a Broncos fan, and will bear their shame right along with them.  Hopefully, the humbling has made us wiser. 

Go ahead, rub it in good, all my Pacific Northwest relatives.  You deserved the win, beyond fair and square.  And I admit, that lime green confetti was beautiful mixed in with your sea of blue.   But my life does not do or die based on my own team's win or loss. 

The game was only common.  There are more sacred things to spend my energies on.