As Christians, we often talk about being “on fire” for the Lord. We sing songs and pray prayers asking God to set a fire in our hearts. So let me ask you one thing; how do you keep that fire burning?
If it were a campfire then I’d tell you to make sure that you place the logs just right to let in the oxygen, start with kindling and move on to bigger and bigger logs, and, eventually, to stoke the coals. The coals are the hottest part of the fire. They are comprised of the fuel that the fire has taken its time to digest and can be so hot that they easily burn any new fuel tossed into the blaze.
As children of the Lord, you are on fire. But what do you feed your fire? Are you discerning about what you consume? Is your fire built so that air can feed it, or are you suffocating it? And finally, are you stoking the coals?
I’ve been in the community for a long time and it often breaks my heart. I see young men so on fire for the Lord, many of them new Christians. They experience the “camp high” or the “mountain top moment” and some even go so far as to loudly proclaim that they’re going to be pastors. So many burn so bright, but in the end, it’s just kindling, or lighter fluid tossed on a spark. Beautiful – – but brief.
And you can certainly make an amazing fire by starting it out with just kindling, in fact all good fires start with kindling, but eventually you will need to throw some real fuel on there and cultivate some coals.
It is my hope and prayer that we can encourage the candidates in this way. That they take the fire that they’ll experienced on the weekend and bring it home. Teach them to feed their fire good fuel. Hand them logs of scripture and help give them room for their fire to breathe deeply of the Holy Spirit. We do all this so they can take that warmth and spread it in their homes, their schools, and their churches. That they stoke the coals of their heart, tending their fire so that it never cools down.
October 27th-29th I have the opportunity to lead a weekend. The theme God has laid on my heart is Stoke the Coals. I’m asking you to prayerfully consider joining the team that I’ll be putting together for that weekend. In serving, you will not only be helping a whole new batch of new monarchs to stoke the coals of their heart, but by serving, you will also be tending to your own fire.
Andrew Blank
VNTB#37 Director