THE BURNING BUSH

In vain the fire assailed the bush. It stood unharmed; so every blow recoiled from Jesus. Sustained by His Deity, He trod all foes beneath His feet. He burst the bands of death. He shivered the gates of the grave. He mounted in triumph to the heaven of heavens.

This burning bush is also a figure of the family of faith. Persecution and trials are the fire which assails them with ceaseless fury. But still they thrive and bud and blossom. How can it be? Deity indwells them. The Church’s history is a mirror of this truth. How often do we see it as a tiny bark, tossed in the engulfing waves. The powers of the mighty, the craft of the subtle, the rage of the frantic, have seized it with a terrific grasp. It stands and ever will stand, verdant, fragrant, and fruitful. Do these lines meet the eye of one who plots against Zion’s welfare? Vain man, forbear! The promise lives, ‘Lo, I am with you always’. Can you tear the sun from the heavens? Can you beat back the ocean with a feather? Can you bind the lightning with a straw? Such a task were easier than to pluck Jesus from the bush? Because He lives there His people shall live also. Then, too, another mystery is solved. Grace is but a tender plant in a believer’s heart. It has to contend with nipping frosts and desolating storms. Satan’s rage bums furiously against it. The world brings fuel upon fuel to consume it. The flesh also fans the flame. But grace still thrives – because Christ is there. The bush shall burn, but shall never be consumed.

Henry Law (1797-1884)