My husband is quite obsessed with his fire pit. He has spent many a fall day out in the yard gathering and burning leaves, and he likes to coax me to sit by the fire in the evenings. We go through a lot of firewood.

Once a piece of wood has been blackened and burned in the fire, it’s done. It’s no longer good for anything, You can’t fashion it into a coat rack. You can’t make it into anything decorative, or use it for any purpose. It’s worthless. 

In the Old Testament, God gives Ezekiel an image of a branch that is taken from the forest and is tossed on the fire. “Do people take a peg from it, to hang any vessel on it?…Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!” (Ezekiel 15:5)

The sad thing is, God used this as an analogy used to describe the people of Jerusalem. 

All of us have a desire to be useful. We want our lives to count. We want our time here to matter. The highest joy for us as Christians is to find our purpose on this earth, to use our gifts for the glory of God, to know that we are carrying out His will. It’s what brings true fulfillment in life. 

How did God’s chosen people get to this sad state of utter uselessness? 

Ezekiel 14:3 says that the people had “taken idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of iniquity before their faces.” They had turned from God and His law and were instead following their own selfish desires. Sin had blocked them from having a relationship with Him. Judgment was coming.

It’s a sad thing when sin brings people to a state of purposelessness.

Psalm 1 shows us the opposite. A righteous man who delights in God’s law “ is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” 

When we’re walking with God, He can use us for so many good things. If not, well…we’re pretty much up in smoke. 

God, help! I don’t want to be an old dead burnt piece of wood. I want to be a tree that flourishes and bears fruit for you. I want my life to have purpose and meaning. Help me to stay close to You. Use me for your glory!