A Good Fire Watch

"Scoffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath."

Proverbs 29:8

During my stint as a mechanical insulation contractor at NASSCO, "fire watches" were a requirement for any "hot work."  When steel was welded or cut out of decks or bulkheads, a worker armed with a radio and a fire extinguisher inspected the work from the opposite side.  The job of a fire watch is to ensure there is no combustible materials adjacent to the hot work, and ensure the molten steel does not contact an ignition source.  The worker cutting or welding cannot safely monitor the other side of the steel, and the fire watch ensures all is safe and up to standard.

Small sparks and slag are capable of starting fires which can rage out of control.  Solomon says scoffers can set a city aflame, and one tongue can start the equivalent of an inferno.  James 3:5-6 says, "Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell."  Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and our words can do great damage.  Once fire has taken to bush it is likely to spread, and scornful words do not stay contained:  they spread and do damage as they go!  The confined spaces of ships are especially dangerous.  As the fire consumes oxygen black smoke billows, burning eyes and lungs, impeding the way of escape.

If is important for us to set a guard over our hearts and mouths, giving no place to scorn, mockery, or lies.  We can also perform the duty of a fire watch as well.  By God's grace and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit - who Jesus compared to Living Water - we can quench the burn of harsh words, allowing them to stop with us.  A welder drops hot metal into a bucket of water for safety, and no matter how thick the sparks fly we can extinguish them with God's love, grace, and mercy.  Proverbs 26:20, "Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases."  A sleepy fire watch places himself and others in danger, and we must be vigilant to turn away the wrath of scoffers - especially the scoffer who lurks within each one of us.