Every Fire Can Go Out
A fire might begin unexpectedly, but it surely won’t last if there is no wood burning.
Last weekend I was at my parents’ house. We were hanging out next to the wood-burning stove, and my mom said “the fire is great, it’s lasting long”, my dad replied, “if I weren’t putting wood on it, it would’ve gone out already”.
Every fire goes out if you don’t burn wood on it. Your marriage fire can go out if you don’t burn wood on it. Your passion fire can go out if you don’t burn wood on it. Your joy fire can go out if you don’t burn wood on it. And even your creativity fire can go out if you don’t burn wood on it.
The book of Leviticus 6:12 and 13 says “The fire should always be kept burning on the altar. It is not to go out”. The priests had the work to set wood on the fire every single day to make sure it was still burning.
It wasn’t a miracle, it was hard work.
They had to wake up early, make sure the wood was stored in a proper place, so it wouldn’t get wet. They had to be around, which means, they had to be available for the task.
According to scriptures, we are called to be priests, all of us. And what would it mean for us today, to make sure the fire is continuously burning.
God called us, He lighted up the fire in our hearts, and our task is to guarantee it will continue to burn. Like anything in life, the more energy and work you put into something, the more involved you get with it. The more involved you are with something, the more you care about it. And when you care about something, you won’t let the fire go out.
You have to nurture the fire God placed in your heart by getting involved in His things. And, I know, it can get very subjective, so I wanna bring 2 objective actions you can do in order to keep His fire burning in your heart.
- Read about Him, get involved in His history and stories, read books from people who know (or knew) God well. Think about how hard it was for the Israelites to live in the desert for 40 years, or how hard it was for Noah and his family to be in a boat with lots of animals, or for Paul to travel all around the place spreading the gospel and getting persecuted.
- Be around people that will encourage you to keep the fire burning. There is a theory that says that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with — think about it, who are the 5 people you’ve been around the most? (consider social media influence when reflecting on it)
There is no guarantee it will work, but, those practices will surely nurture your mind with good content, information, and influence, and you will be more likely to not let His fire go out.
A fire might begin unexpectedly, but it surely won’t last if there is no wood burning.