Spontaneous Combustion

Spontaneous combustion sometimes occurs when piles of matter, such as hay, self-ignite due to bacteria fermentation producing heat beyond the ignition point.

My late father, who came from a Kansas farm family, remembered this explosive phenomenon even burning down barns.

At an evening beach outing some time back, a friend of the family (whom I will call John Bailey) was standing with his back to the campfire.

As teens from the church group roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and sang “Kumbaya,” a chilling fog rolled in off the waters of the San Francisco Bay.

Then, just when John backed closer to the warmth of the campfire, a skinny tongue of flame snaked outward, flicking at the fibers of his cashmere sweater.

Whoof! John suddenly appeared to have spontaneously, well, combusted! The back of his sweater resembled a piece of paper curling up on a fireplace hearth.

Several teens jumped to their feet and vigorously slapped damp beach towels against the back of John’s sweater. Success! John Bailey, happily, was no worse for the wear.

Can’t say the same for his sweater, though.

After that event, we sometimes laughingly addressed our friend as John “Spontaneous Combustion” Bailey. You and I are the most comfortable when we are neither too cold nor too hot. But God does not like us that way. In Revelation 3:15, God says, “I’d prefer to see you too hot—or too cold—rather than remain lukewarm!” (my version).

God wants us so on fire for Him that we “explode” in love, trust, and subsequent Christ-honoring works, even to the point of exposing those around us to the vivifying heat of Jesus’ calling on their lives. John the Baptist once told his listeners, “I baptize you with water to show that your hearts and lives have changed. But there is one coming after me who is greater than I am. . . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11, NCV).

The two Emmaus disciples said, “It felt like a fire burning in us when Jesus talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us” (Luke 24:32, NCV).

How long has it been since you and I have walked and talked so closely with Jesus that our hearts burned within us? How long since we’ve consistently pushed closer to the fire of His love in purposeful prayer and Bible study? How long since we’ve risked spontaneous combustion?

Carolyn Rathbun Sutton