Fizzled Fire

Does anyone else ever feel like their once burning bonfire for Christ has turned into a fizzled flame? I have been a Christ-follower for a long time. I dedicated my life to Christ as a sophomore in high school. That was when the song “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk was still very popular, and I was a proud Jesus Freak!

This continued until about just out of college. I can’t really point to one thing that stopped fueling the fire but Luke 8:14 mentions that the cares, riches and pleasure of this world can choke the word of God in our lives. This is probably what happened as a new career, new marriage and some family changes occurred.

God has brought a person into my life through work and I always think of us as unlikely friends. We were talking recently and mentioned a town near Detroit. I had been there in high school with the youth choir doing a concert in the park and evangelizing. She was there doing other not-so-upstanding activities like partying and drugs.

Throughout the last two years she has become interested in learning more about Christ, so I invited her to the starting point class. I didn’t really expect to get a ton out of it. It was my intention to use this class as a tool to begin discipling her. But God had something else in store for me!

If anyone wants to add fuel to their fire again, just hang out with new believers. They are so excited and hungry to learn about Jesus. They were just the fuel needed to get my fire burning brighter! It was such an exciting experience to see these new believers discover more about Jesus. One practical solution to a fizzling flame, start discipling someone! No matter where you are at God can use you! It will restore that fire to the burning bonfire it used to be.

Michelle Heriford

Lord, Keep My Fire Burning

Some days I get so mentally and physically exhausted, I could just cry. While the day may hold many things to be thankful for, I get weary and find that the only way I can truly rejuvenate is to be alone in peace and quiet. Traditionally when I take these alone times, I have found myself feeling guilty or selfish for needing this time to just let my mind rest, but God showed me something this week which struck my heart.

God instructed the Israelites to keep the fire burning continuously. The altar fire was holy fire ignited by the presence of God. This sacred fire was never to be extinguished. “The fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it ... [The] fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out” (Leviticus 6:12–13).

After reading this, I thought, “How were the people able to keep the fire going continuously?” Then I read Numbers 4:13 where God instructed the Israelites to remove just the ashes from the altar and cover them safely with a purple cloth. With this thought, God was not concerned with the fact that there was an actual flame burning, but that there would be hot coals from which the fire could be ignited later in time.

If fire could be compared to the fire of my heart, then this lesson gave me great comfort. It is only natural for a flame to grow high and low. The purple covering mentioned in Numbers 4:13 could be compared to His holy presence as protector of the fire (or our heart). God is not so concerned that my life is a continuous raging flaming fire, but that I simply depend on him to keep the coals “simmering” with His love.

Sheryl Patry