November 27, 2012
Outside the leaves had fallen, the mountain tops were frosted with a dusting of snow and a winter chill was in the air. Inside my wife and I were sitting in the living room tucked into comfy chairs reading books with a crackling fire in the fireplace, and a little Van Morrison playing quietly in the background.
What a great way to spend the late afternoon. We live in an older home with 2 wood burning fireplaces in the house; one in the living room and one in the man cave – I love our fireplaces. There is just something fabulous about the snap, crackle and pop of the wood, the faint smell of smoke, the heat of the blaze and the red hot coals as the wood burns down to ash.
Guys love fires don’t we? We can sit for ages around a fire just staring at it and poking it. Move the wood around a bit to get a bigger flame, throw some more wood on – we are fascinated by fire.
So, as we sat there by the fire and read I would get up from time to time to poke the fire and put on more wood. The secret to getting a good flame is to ensure the wood is close together with not too much space between the pieces of wood, but not too little either. I got up to stoke the fire at one point when it had almost died out, yet was still full of heat. There were two pieces of wood in the fire box, but they were a little far apart. So, I took out the poker and pushed the top piece a little closer to the bottom piece on a bit of an angle to they would overlap more. When I did that the wood burst into flame.
Wow, I wish I was like that. I wish I was “on fire” like that wood. Sometimes I feel like the wood that has a tiny little flame, is smoldering a bit, but not really on fire. Do you feel like that sometimes? Do you wish you were more on fire?
That phrase “on fire” was popular in the 70’s; “Man, that guy is really on fire for Jesus!” It meant that someone was really passionate about following Jesus. He was always talking about Jesus and sharing with other people how much Jesus loves them, etc. I think it came from the 2nd chapter of Acts when the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples in “tongues of fire” and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Paul encourages us to “fan into flame the gift of God” in us. I take from this that we have a responsibility to cultivate our passion and the infilling of the Spirit of God. We can’t just sit around passively, timidly asking the Lord to increase our passion for Him.
So, if we are not feeling “on fire” for Jesus what’s wrong? I believe we can quench the Spirit’s fire, and we can also simply get lazy, timid and passive.
How do we quench the Spirit’s fire? We can do that through a variety of ways including cynicism, faithlessness, disobedience, disbelief and sin.
In regard to our responsibility to fan into flame God’s gift in us, we must choose to draw near to God and the “fire” of the Spirit. We can choose to call out to him to fill us and reveal more of his heart and his will. We cannot be timid.
So, if you don’t feel a burning passion for Jesus: Have you yielded yourself to Jesus? Have you come to him with empty hands and an open heart? Have you fasted and prayed? Have you waited on him in solitude and silence? Have you repented of sinful habits? Have you eliminated distractions? Have you read and studied? Have you engaged and chosen to serve others? Have you asked for more of His Spirit to fill you to overflowing?
Let’s choose to draw near to Jesus to touch the flame of His Spirit, to set us on fire with passion for him and his purposes in us and through us.
So, are you on fire? If not, why not and what are you willing to do about it?
II Timothy 1:6
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
I Thessalonians 5:19
“Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt.”
Acts 2: 3, 4
“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”