If there’s one thing every fire fighter fears it’s a backdraft – where a fire in an enclosed space uses up all the available oxygen, but continues to smolder at a very high temperature. An unwary fire fighter may open a door and cause the room to explode in a fireball as the sudden inrush of air reignites the fire. A trained fire fighter will either try to vent the room from the highest point – or run for his life!
In a similar way the Bible says that humans have all kinds of destructive lusts and desires that smolder in our hearts, and that sometimes when our eyes alight on the object of our desire, those hidden lusts explode into destructive action – like throwing open the door to a room hiding a backdraft.
The good news is that the Bible only ever points out problems in order to offer us an alternative. Like the fire fighter faced with a backdraft, God allows us to vent those unhealthy desires at the highest point – Jesus, the Son of God, takes them upon himself as he hangs on the cross, and in their place offers us love, purity and self-control.
