Daily Devotional

If there was a TV show called “Dumbest Campers in America,” I would be on it.

One year my friend and I reserved a campsite in Yosemite Valley, and we had trouble lighting our campfire.  But we had plenty of gasoline, so we thought: “No problem, right?”

As my friend poured gas on the wood, an ember ignited the gasoline and the flame traveled back into the container in his hand.  All of a sudden fire erupted out of the nozzle, and he stood there frozen, not knowing what to do.

“Drop it,” I yelled.  And he did.
 
Unfortunately, the container tipped over and a river of flaming gas poured out on the dry ground.

That’s when I panicked. I grabbed a 5-gallon bottle of water and began dumping it on the fire.  But water doesn’t extinguish flaming gasoline. (Shouldn’t I have learned that in High School chemistry class?)

That’s when the guy in the RV next to us panicked.  He grabbed a fire extinguisher, snuffed out the flames, and went back into his RV without saying a word (out loud anyway.)

I think of that embarrassing incident when I read 2 Timothy 1:6. There Paul tells Timothy to “fan into flame” the spiritual gift he received from God. The verb means to revive a fire… to rekindle, revive, or reactivate it.

The implication is that if we don’t use our spiritual gifts, they will grow cold.  Our gifts will lie dormant and atrophy like a muscle.  We will grow weak and feel out of shape, and out of practice.
 
So we must continually stir up the gift of God within us and fan it into flame so that it is burning and blazing bright for the glory of God.

How do we kindle afresh the gift of God within us?  Quite simply, we have to use it.  We have to wake it up and exercise it, put it into practice, and put it to good use.

Like an ashen log in the fire, we need to poke at the fading embers and move them around, so they get fresh oxygen and circulation.  And if we have to, we should dump a little gasoline on the fire.  Whatever it takes to reignite our passion.

Here are a few questions for you to ponder and pray about today:

• What is the primary spiritual gift that God has given you?
• How are you currently exercising it and using it for the glory of God?
• If you’ve let it grow cold, what are you going to do to reignite the fire?

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.