Smokey The Bear

Smokey, is a bear featured as the fire prevention mascot for the United States Department of Agriculture, (USDA.) Smokey Bear ads say, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires by being careful with matches and lit cigarette butts.” It was a great campaign, begun to help teach people to care for the land and to help prevent the loss of lumber at a time when the USA was at war. Albert Staehle invented the bear in 1944. Later in 1950, a fire-fighting crew rescued a male bear cub from a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico, named him Smokey and sent him to live in a Zoo in Washington DC as the “mascot” for the USDA.

The nationally run ads and the publicity of the bear, made people more aware of being careful with matches, but the truth of the matter was that many forest fires are not always preventable. Many forest fires are the result of a natural occurrence called lightening. You cannot stop lightening. There are some fires you can prevent and other are just going to happen with or without your assistance. There is only one way to put out a forest fire though, and this whatever it’s cause, water.

Just as water or rain puts out forest fires in the physical world, only the living water of Jesus stops the raging fires of hell that lurk, waiting to strike and destroy man’s soul. Water is important to life, we could not live with out, and we need pure clean water too. Dead stagnant water is no good.

Jesus said to the woman at the well, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” (John 4:10 )

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will tell you, “There are children and adults who need to hear and learn about Smokey Bear and his forest fire prevention message and there are still people who need to be continually reminded of the need to prevent forest fires.
It’s a little like a discussion on the fires of hell, and the church will tell you the same thing about Jesus…

There are still people who need to hear and learn about Jesus Christ and his gospel of salvation by faith in him. Like forest fires, hellfire is a devastating reality too.