It’s on Us to Light the Fire

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“Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.”  -John Wesley

This is easily one of my favorite quotes of all time because it constantly reminds me of how I can be a light to this world. One of my current and frequent prayers is that God would allow me to burn with passion for Him in such a way that it would affect the world around me and cause them to burn as well. That language “to burn” may seem a little strange but what I’m really asking God for is the difference between an ember and a flame. I’m not going to influence the world much as a tiny ember. You can hardly see the embers at the bottom of a snuffed-out fire. Although dangerous, an ember needs some help to fan into flame. But a bonfire, a wildfire, you can see from quite some distance. It’s attractive, it grows, and it likes to catch up the other things it’s surrounded by in its passionate fury. Luckily, God doesn’t need much to take us to greater levels of hunger and passion. 

I want my life to be so attractive by the way I pursue God that people around me can’t help but want that very thing themselves. I want to be a thermostat NOT a thermometer! Thermostats set the temperature while thermometers simply read it. The truth is, every room I walk into, every worship set I lead, I have the opportunity to set the temperature in the room. I want the way I pursue Jesus to be utterly contagious.  

I love how this quote says, “Light YOURSELF on fire…” because I think it’s important to realize that if we want to burn for the Lord, it’s going to take work that only WE can do ourselves. There is a decision and an action involved with increasing your passion. And no one else is going to do this for you. Instead of waiting for someone else to light a fire for us, we can do small things that will create a passion of greater intensity. It’s on us to light the fire! Yes, the Lord makes us passionate and puts in us a hunger for more of Him, however, there is an invitation that requires a response from us to keep it alive. It takes action from us to cultivate a fire and a holy passion. One that actually stays lit. 

If we want to remain on fire, we’ve got to learn how to feed it. Feed the fire! 

Maybe for you, it’s reading the Word of God daily that ignites your need for more. For some of you, it may be time in worship, prayer, creating intimacy and singing songs. I have many friends come alive when serving people, being the hands and feet of Jesus and bringing the church to the streets. 

All of these acts of worship and love to God can act as fuel to the fire.

I desperately want to see the church share this amazing Gospel with a great passion that cannot be ignored. But I’m certain of this: it will take a lot of us choosing to light ourselves on fire to take over the darkness around us. I think that God’s people are doing a great job, but hey, it couldn’t hurt to turn up the temperature. 

Watch Brandon Lake and Bethel Music sing “This Is A Move”:

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 How do you plan on feeding your spiritual fire today?  Share with us below!