During my studies this morning, I read this quote in one of the commentaries and it really impressed me as so true: “It is the nature of a fire to go out; you must keep it stirred and fed and the ashes removed.” I often pray that the Lord will keep my heart on fire with love and devotion for Him and His Word, and pray that for you guys as well, and that's what I was thinking of when I read this quotation. A fire can't burn without fuel and our fuel of course is His Word.
To me, the worst thing in the whole world that could ever happen to me would be to lose my passion for the Lord and His Word. I know that I can't possibly maintain it by myself, so that's why I always pray that He will keep it going for me, and because it's His Will, I know I can trust Him to do so. But I also know that I have to do my part too and stay in His Word every day. Some people make sure they take vitamins every day to stay healthy. For me, I make sure I take my spiritual vitamins every day to stay healthy. It may not have done much for my physical body, but it's certainly strengthened my spiritual one! That always reminds me of what Paul said about it to Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:8 —For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. *
“It is the nature of a fire to go out; you must keep it stirred and fed and the ashes removed.” So we feed our fire with God's Word, but then how do we keep it stirred? We stir it with fellowship with other believers. Fellowship is very important for many reasons. Remember when Jesus sent out His disciples to preach, He never sent them alone, but always two together.
Finally, we remove the ashes by worshiping God and praising Him. This refreshes our spirits and strengthens us too. Remember that the Joy of the Lord is our strength, and also that we're told repeatedly to both give thanks in all things and to always rejoice.
All three are needed- God's word, fellowship, and praise and worship. We really can't just pick one and leave out the rest or our fire won't burn well or long. I know I didn't do these in the same order as the quotation goes. I just wrote what I thought as I thought it and apparently my mind doesn't always put things in the proper order. That's ok though. I just wanted to share that quotation with you and a few of my thoughts about it. Just a refection to start the day off thinking about the Lord and all He does for us.
To me, the worst thing in the whole world that could ever happen to me would be to lose my passion for the Lord and His Word. I know that I can't possibly maintain it by myself, so that's why I always pray that He will keep it going for me, and because it's His Will, I know I can trust Him to do so. But I also know that I have to do my part too and stay in His Word every day. Some people make sure they take vitamins every day to stay healthy. For me, I make sure I take my spiritual vitamins every day to stay healthy. It may not have done much for my physical body, but it's certainly strengthened my spiritual one! That always reminds me of what Paul said about it to Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:8 —For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. *
“It is the nature of a fire to go out; you must keep it stirred and fed and the ashes removed.” So we feed our fire with God's Word, but then how do we keep it stirred? We stir it with fellowship with other believers. Fellowship is very important for many reasons. Remember when Jesus sent out His disciples to preach, He never sent them alone, but always two together.
Finally, we remove the ashes by worshiping God and praising Him. This refreshes our spirits and strengthens us too. Remember that the Joy of the Lord is our strength, and also that we're told repeatedly to both give thanks in all things and to always rejoice.
All three are needed- God's word, fellowship, and praise and worship. We really can't just pick one and leave out the rest or our fire won't burn well or long. I know I didn't do these in the same order as the quotation goes. I just wrote what I thought as I thought it and apparently my mind doesn't always put things in the proper order. That's ok though. I just wanted to share that quotation with you and a few of my thoughts about it. Just a refection to start the day off thinking about the Lord and all He does for us.
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