Stoke the Fire

Last night we lit a log in the fireplace and enjoyed a cozy fire, completing our official transition from summer to fall.

After a day of pouring rain (or falling snow if you’re in other parts of the country) and cool temperatures, there’s nothing better than a crackling, warm fire to make you feel comfortable and safe.

But it doesn’t last forever. The needs tending, or eventually what’s burning will be used up. The embers will die. The air, formerly warm and inviting, will grow at first chilly, and then cold.

It’s the same in relationships, especially those between a man and woman. When love is young, a couple will do everything they can to fan the flames of passion. They spend time together talking, touching, and sharing their dreams. You can tell they’re in love by how they look when they’re near each other.

If passion in a marriage is left untended, it will become a flickering, small flame. The two people may still care for each other and enjoy the other's company, but something will be missing. Later, if the embers are allowed to die and become cold, the couple may merely exist as roommates, passing each other on their way to or from as they go about their lives.

The same is true of our spiritual lives.

When we get our first taste of what it’s like to be in relationship with our Lord—not just know about Him from Sunday School lessons—but really know Him, we hunger for more. Passion for our faith, for living what we believe, and serving God takes priority over everything else.

But if we don’t stoke our inner spiritual fire for God, the flames will slowly die down. We’ll become passive about not only sharing what we believe – but also what we believe in. We may attend church on a regular or semi-regular basis, but our minds will drift to where we’ll go for lunch, the football game that’s being played while we sit in worship, or the list of things that need to be tended to Monday morning.

We won’t give God much time, let alone thought during the week. We may shoot up a quick prayer for help if needed. We may glance at the devotional on the nightstand. But we won’t stop to spend time with Him.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way . . .

We have a choice.

People who are in relationship with Christ are recognized as people who have something different about them. You know who they are because they emanate a warmth and glow to people around them. Their inner spiritual fires are stoked.

That’s what I want.

I want to keep the fire stoked in all my relationships—but especially in the one I have with Lord.

Do you?

Dawn