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… 2 Timothy 1:6
In my teen days, we used to sing a song at church that began with the line, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” Since I want my life to be “on fire” with the power of the Holy Spirit bearing His fruit in and through me, I need to tend the fire that He has started.
First, the fire needs to be fed. To keep the fire going, I have to introduce a new log every now and then. The same thing is true in my life spiritually. I cannot continue to burn brightly with what God fed me last week. I need God’s Word to address MY LIFE on a daily basis. I need an intentional plan for studying, meditating on, and applying God’s Word.
Also, the fire needs to be fanned. As a flame starts to dwindle, I can blow on the red-hot embers and once again the flames rise. In my spiritual life, I need the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to blow in my life. I need to start everyday asking Him to control every thought, word, attitude, and action in my life. I need to ask Him to bear His fruit in my life. I need what only the Holy Spirit can do in my life. I need His filling, His empowerment, His activity or else my fire for God suffocates.
Then finally, the fire needs to be freshened. I can freshen a fire by stirring it around a bit, moving the logs, creating some breathing room. Spiritually, I need fresh challenges and experiences if I am to grow. I need to be stirred on a regular basis. Granted, these freshening experiences are not always pleasant – after all, you freshen a fire with a pointed thing called a poker. Who among us really enjoys being poked and prodded? The poker freshens the fire by stirring the fuel closer to the red-hot center of the fire. When God uses His poker to stir my life, He usually draws me closer to Him, the blazing center of spiritual vitality and fire.
So . . . what does your fire need? Fuel? Fanning? Freshening?
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