We have burned wood for years. It is hard work and messy to handle, but it seems to provide a warmth like no other. And certainly, if the electricity is out during a winter storm, it is a wonderful thing. But there are two kinds of wood regarding moisture level—wet and dry. Wet wood has been freshly cut and it has the sap in it, the cellular moisture. That wood is hard to catch on fire, and for all practical purposes in a wood stove or fire place, it won’t burn. If you do burn some of it, you must constantly nurse the fire from an outside source to make it burn. Dry wood is that which has “cured out.” Most of the sap has dried out. This wood will catch on fire. You can put a little “kindling,” small dry pieces of wood in there and light the kindling, and it readily catches the dry chunks of wood on fire, and you have a good roaring, hot fire in short order. There are also two kinds of wood in density—hard wood and soft wood. “Hard” wood is dense and heavy. “Soft” wood is not as dense, and light. Hard wood burns long; soft wood burns up quickly. Soft wood tends to catch on fire more quickly than hard wood. The ideal thing is to have a combination of hard wood and soft wood in your wood pile so when you build a fire, the soft wood catches on fire quickly and starts burning to catch the hard wood on fire that will burn long and hot. If all you have is wet wood, the house stays cold. The Bible calls God’s people trees of righteousness. If we allow God to process us, He can use us for His glory. If we are not “cured out,” then our wood is too wet to burn, and the house stays cold. When we are “dried out,” then we are easily ignited by the Spirit of God. If we are dense hard wood, we are well-established in the Word of God, we are consistent in the things of God; that is good. But it is also good to be put together with the soft wood that is easily ignited by the fire of the Spirit, so we can burn together for the purpose and glory of God. God wants to get the different types of wood together to start burning, and burning long to warm the house of this world with the presence of God. We need to lay aside our religious differences, focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, be filled with the fire of His Spirit, and burn brightly in His love for all the world to feel His warmth. Alignment with the Lord Jesus Christ is what God is looking for. We will give account for everything outside of Him. Let’s line up to God’s plain, simple way in Christ as written in the Word, and burn for Jesus.
Wood Too Wet to Burn
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