As most of you know, until the other day we in the Coastal Empire have been under a drought and a mandatory no burn restriction. No burn permits were being issued for fear of fires getting out of control. We did get around five inches of rain so that burn permits are now being issued.

It didn’t take long for a pyromaniac like myself to take full advantage of the restrictions being lifted. I had a pile of debris at my home and another two piles at the church that I allowed the fire to consume.

While at the church I had some interesting things happen. Since my son’s car was at the shop, he borrowed my truck and dropped me at the church.

I had the fires safely burning and contained and was watching them from a window inside the church. Someone came by and saw the fire and since there was no vehicle there, presumed that the fires were unattended so they called the fire department.

They came and since I had a permit and the fires were well contained there was no problem.

Several hours later when the fires were almost out and were smoldering someone else called the sheriff’s department and a deputy came by but again no problem.

Some might think we just have some nosy neighbors but the whole thing really made me feel good that people are concerned enough to get involved. Just ask the people in Pembroke and South Georgia how much they would have appreciated someone paying attention to a little smoke or a small flame.

There is a spiritual lesson in all this. Our spiritual lives can be compared to a fire. We are either ablaze for God and His work here on earth or we are just smoldering or worse yet we don’t even have a spark; meaning we are completely cold. If we are ablaze, then others will notice it from afar.

If we are just smoldering, they may have to get up close but they will notice. If we are cold there is nothing for others to see. The scripture says for us to let our lights shine so that others will see our good works and the end result will be that God will receive the praise.