Unquenchable Fire

TITLE: Unquenchable Fire
DATE: March 21, 2019
TEXT: Mark 9: 47-48 - 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched
Arkansas is a beautiful state…for the most part.

For a long time, that sentence would have described Bella Vista, a community of 28,500 people, some 170 miles north of Little Rock Then something happened.

That something was people smelled smoke.

The smoke was coming from a garbage dump outside of town. An illegal dump site outside of town. A site which had operated for years and was the receptacle to things like car batteries and swimming pool liners.
 
It has been seven months since people noticed the smoke from the fire which is coming from a location more  than 70 feet underground. Day after day, hour after hour, week after week, month after month the smoke swirls through town, seeping into basements, causing illnesses, disrupting what should have been a good quality of life.

Chris Nelson, his wife and son live in a home about one-fifth of a mile away from the burning dump. He says, his family continuously coughs, his wife has been diagnosed with bronchitis and his son is on round-after-round of antibiotics.
Chris says he is a veteran and has seen much of the seamier parts of life. But he maintain, ”this is probably one of the worst, most stressful situations to live in." He concludes, “It's been hell."
Well, no Chris, not exactly like hell.

1. It’s not like hell because the fire can be put out. It is estimated that it will cost somewhere between 15 and 37 million dollars to put out the garbage-dump fire. It is a staggering sum, but it can be done. On the other hand, as the text above states, hell fire is not quenched.
2. Chris, it’s not like hell, because you can move. It might be inconvenient; it might be costly but you could do it. You could move to a place where the air is pure as a mountain meadow. But if you are a resident in hell, there is no escape. One spot is worse than the next.

Oh, there is one other thing which is different about the real hell.

Jesus has made it so nobody else will ever have to go to hell.

The truth is, without God’s Son our Savior, the eternal fires of hell would have been one of the most populous places in eternity.

It would have been home for people who renounced the Savior; denied the Savior, rejected the Savior and felt as how they could get along just fine without Him.

Well, they couldn’t do any of those things.

Which is why the Lord sent His Son to carry our sins, wash our souls and make it so when people of faith stand before the Lord’s judgment seat they will be declared innocent of wrongdoing.

They will escape hell and be welcomed into heaven.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I rejoice that because of Jesus, heaven is my home. In the Savior’s Name. Amen.

Today’s devotion was inspired by various articles, amongst which is the one written by the editors of Newser on March 4, 2019.  Those who wish may check out this link which was, at the time of writing, fully active: http://www.newser.com/story/272068/illegal-arkansas-dump-has-been-burning-for-7-months.html

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann. He with his extended family have a great witness. This song comes from the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html