BUILD A FIRE! – Matthew 5:16 Devotional
Matthew 5:16
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
I enjoy building a fire. I guess it started when I was a Boy Scout in my teens. One summer during a week-long camp, our scoutmaster taught us the fundamentals of building and maintaining a good fire. It was a thrill for us to use our shoe laces, a bow, a drill, and in a few minutes have a flame erupt from our dry shavings. He taught us to always have dry wood near at hand so we would be able to keep the fire burning.
In the cold winter months I build fires in my small wood stove. When I first ignite the fire I use plenty of paper and kindling to ignite the flames; and then I have to keep the fire growing by placing larger and larger pieces of wood in the flames.
If you place too large a piece of wood, however, it could be too much too soon — the fire will simply smolder and begin to die out. Then it is necessary to place smaller kindling back in the flames to allow the larger pieces to burn again.
In the spiritual realm we sometimes fail to learn the lessons from the fire box. We must insure that we light the fire in new believers. Then we need to provide just the right amount of kindling to get their flame burning bright. As we prayerfully add more and more solid wood, we need to watch for the moment when they are burning on their own and producing fire in those around them. GET BURNING!
Blessings dear hearts. May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – Pastor Cecil