“Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” [NIV]
I realized yesterday as I prayed and thought about my devotions that the Spirit’s fire in me is burning once again. I realized something else … we don’t have to start the fire, we just need to stop putting it out!
Matthew 3 and Luke 3 tell us that John the Baptizer was in the desert, proclaiming the way of the LORD. He said he baptized with water but there was One coming after him, the Messiah, who will “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” [Matt 3:11 NKJV]
The fire is resident within the Holy Spirit, who is resident within us when we surrender our lives to Christ. We don’t have to go out and collect a bunch of spiritual kindling, stack it up with some wood and try to get the fire started by striking a match. The fire is already lit, already present. We just need to stop throwing water on it trying to put it out.
I venture to say that we spend more time dousing the flames of the Spirit than we think. We do it when we fail to heed the Spirit’s call to read the Word, or pray, or get up and go to church on a Sunday morning. We do it when we get so tired physically, it affects our focus. We do it when we are drawn away to other things, the pursuit of pleasure or the demands of addictions. We douse the flame of the Spirit when we allow our emotions to lead us, rather than follow the determinations of our minds and wills.
I spent quite of bit of time last fall dousing the flames of God’s fire within me. Now I’m turning the Spirit loose in my body, soul and spirit … let me blaze O God with the baptism of Your Holy Spirit and fire!
