The fact
that the thornbush burned without being consumed indicates that the glory of
God’s holiness should burn within us but that we should not be exhausted. If a servant
of God is exhausted, it may mean that he is using his own energy to do
something for God. God does
not want to use our natural life as fuel. He will burn only with Himself as
fuel. We are simply to be a thornbush with the divine fire burning within
it....Through the sign of the burning thornbush, God impressed Moses that he
was a vessel, a channel, through which God was to be manifested. It is not easy
to learn that we are simply a bush for the manifestation of God. Throughout the
years I have been learning one lesson: to work for God without using the
natural life as the fuel but letting God burn within me.
We all
should be called ones like Moses. Sooner
or later, we all shall behold the very sight Moses saw in chapter three of
Exodus, the vision of a bush that burns without being consumed. This vision needs
to be stamped upon our being. Then
whenever we touch the work of God or the service of the church, we shall be
reminded that we are nothing more than a thorn-bush. The day is coming when we
all shall realize this. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 70-72)
We all need to serve, to function, and to use our one
talent, our gift. But we must be careful not to serve in a natural way, with
our natural hotness. Of course, the Lord does want us to be hot in the spirit, not
cold or lukewarm. But we have to be hot in our spirit, not in our natural life.
In Romans 12:11 Paul tells us to be “burning in spirit, serving the Lord.” Any hotness in our natural life is strange fire to God, and this brings in death. (Basic Lessons on Service, pp. 117-118)
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