Saturday evening our church had its Fall Harvest Festival. There was music and singing, popcorn and cotton candy, and all different flavors of soup and bread served under a tent in the church’s backyard. We had ponies for the kids to ride and goats for them to pet. One lady dressed as a bee and her husband wore a beekeeper’s costume and chased her with a bee smoker. There were prizes for the best costumes and games for young and old.
The weather was a little bit crisp, so they built a big bonfire. The flames were nice and hot and I kept changing positions, so I would toast evenly. The fire started out really well, with flames reaching toward the sky, but they hadn’t set aside wood for later, so it soon burned down to a bed of coals. No matter how they fanned the flames, they couldn’t keep it going without more fuel.
The same thing can happen to us as Christians. We start our walk with Christ filled with enthusiasm, ready to set the world on fire, but soon the everyday cares of life beat us down till our faith is only kept alive by dying embers. Without a steady supply of fuel, the fire in our souls is in danger of going out.
Paul recognized this danger, which is why he advised Timothy to “remain faithful to the things you have been taught.” (2 Timothy 3:14 NLT). From childhood Timothy had been taught the holy Scriptures and Paul encouraged him to remember those lessons and keep building on them by continued study. He reminded Timothy “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.:” (vs. 16).
Paul knew if Timothy didn’t keep the fire fueled, by regular study of God’s Word, he could never “fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave [him].” (2 Timothy 1:6). Paul knew Timothy needed to keep studying, keep learning, keep feeding the fire if he was to be an effective worker for God.
The same is true for you and I. We need to daily study God’s Word, daily feeding the fire if we are to burn brightly for Jesus. We can’t fan into flames the spiritual gifts God has given us, if there’s no fuel for the fire.
Don’t let the fire of your faith go out today. Open God’s Word right now and feed the fire!