Stir It Up!
Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God…. – 2 Timothy 1:6 NKJV.
Another translation renders 2 Timothy 1:6 as, “Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you.” I am reminded of the fire on the altar of burnt offering. In Leviticus 6, God instructed five times that the fire on the altar of burnt offering was never to go out. It was a continuous process to keep the fire burning. The tendency of fire is to go out as the fuel necessary for burning is used up. God provides the fire, but we have to keep it burning.
How do we keep the fire burning?
We keep the fire burning by being obedient to our God.
We keep the fire burning by confessing and repenting of known sin (1 John 1:9).
We keep the fire burning by not grieving or quenching the Holy Spirit.
We keep the fire burning by saying “yes” and not “no” to the still small voice and by doing “now” and not “later” to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
If you were to take a look at your life was there a time when you were more on fire for God than you are now? Looking at my own life I know that in the past I have been more on fire for God than I am at this point. God always is faithful to provide the empowerment necessary for serving and living the Christian life. However, we are not always faithful to keep the flames stirred up. We are not always faithful to use fully the gifts that God has bestowed upon us.
Charles Finney said that personal revival for the Christian is a “new beginning of obedience to God.” He says, “Just as in the case of a converted sinner, the first step is a deep repentance, a breaking down of heart, a getting down in the dust before God, with deep humility and a forsaking of sin.”
Do you have a desire for obedience to God? Do you have a desire to have the fire blazing as it once was? Then, there is still a spark of God’s fire. A few small embers are enough to spark a tremendous fire. Stir it up! Let us fan that spark into a roaring fire of personal revival.