By Patrick Hawthorne

In prayer this morning, I could not get the thought out of my head.  “Heap coals of fire on their head.”  This word was for me, but I thought you might receive from it as well.

Many in the West have taken the verse of Scripture, “Heap coals of fire on their head,”  to mean we are to kill people with kindness…that when someone does us wrong, we are to repay with kindness.  While the thought may sound reasonable, it is totally missing the point.

In the time this was written, coals for home fires was contained in a pot called a brazier.  If a home fire went out, it was customary to run over to the next door neighbors to obtain more coals.  Would you like to take a guess on how the fire was transported?  You got it.  It was on the head.  If the…