Keep burning

Romans 12: 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord

Keeping our passion ablaze can be very difficult.  As I said in my previous blog “zeal needs a fuel” and the fuel is Jesus himself and our persistent pursuit of him.

Too often Christians look for a change of circumstances to keep their passion burning. Their thoughts might run along the lines of if only my husband / wife was a Christian it would be so much easier, if only I could change my job, house, car, school or even church I would regain my passion.  Some Christians go from conference to conference to keep their passion alight. 

But passion comes from the inside not our outward circumstances. We can be passionate people in the midst of the most mundane tasks when we get the revelation Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3: 23 – 24).

 In the day, I was a stay at home mother with four small children and there came a time when I resented this. Our church was hosting one ‘big name’ speaker after another and for various reasons I always seemed to be missing out at home.  One day I was having an almighty grumble to God about this and then very quietly I got the amazing revelation of how God viewed motherhood.  He told me motherhood is one of the highest callings a woman could have. (Please if you are single or cannot have children this does not mean you cannot live a fulfilling and satisfying life.) I thought of Mary, Elizabeth and all the nameless women in the Bible and down the years who had birthed and raised men and women of God. What an honour.

This changed my outlook on my life completely.  No longer was motherhood something to endure till I could get a ‘proper’ job but a God given calling. There were still many times in the midst of the domestic humdrum that I grumbled but now undergirding my life was a sense of purpose that sustained me through even the most tiresome of situations.

God also promised me that if we ever needed a babysitter he would provide and if I was unable to get to a meeting or conference because of childcare commitments, I would never miss out.  Immediately my heart was at peace and God has been utterly faithful to his promise.  My husband and I were even able to go to Uganda for two and a half weeks whilst a wonderful couple in the church took over our lives and children.  I can confidently assure you that 25 years later, I have never missed out on anything by looking after my children. Today it is my privilege to encourage other young ladies struggling with their calling to motherhood to stand firm against the voice of the world that says you can only find true fulfilment in going out to work.

As Simon Ponsonby writes our passion, our destiny and calling come from within not from our outward circumstances. The Westminster Catechism says, ‘Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever’. That does not come from our education, work, relationships or even church. It comes from our relationship with our heavenly Father where we can truly find satisfaction and fulfilment in even the most boring duties.

God has called us to a life of love with him and others. As we pursue him we find that our destiny is not in some mighty ministry or incredible career but in loving our family, the lost, the hurt, the rejected, those we find ourselves around every day. We are there to share God’s light and love with them and our part is to keep the light shining brightly through a passionate pursuit of the one who came as the Light of the World. 

Born to burn

Romans 12: 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord

The church was born on the day of Pentecost in fire. 

Acts 2: 1 – 4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Fire draws a crowd and the fire of God drew the crowd at Pentecost. It transformed a fisherman into an orator who preached with passion and conviction and 3000 were saved. It so inspired those early disciples that they revolutionised their world. They were prepared to die for the one who had died for them.

There are many references to fire in the Bible and most of them have to do with either the presence of God or his judgment.  As Simon Ponsonby wrote ‘If we will not embrace the fire of his love, we will experience it as the fire of his judgment.’

Moses met God at a burning bush – a place made holy by God’s presence so that Moses had to remove his shoes. I believe God placed a spark of his fire in Moses at that encounter that changed him from a timid shepherd into a man who could confront Pharaoh, one of the mightiest leaders of the known world. 

We read in Exodus 11 that after Moses had accosted Pharaoh for the final time ‘Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh’. What had happened to the timid shepherd? The fire of God had changed him.

Many of the rebellions against God and Moses in the desert were dealt with by fire from the golden calf (Exodus 32:20)  to Korah’s rebellion (Numbers 16: 31 – 35).

God’s presence was revealed time and again with fire. Fire on Mount Sinai, the pillar of fire that led God’s people through the desert, Elijah and the prophets of Baal and the chariot of fire that took Elijah up to heaven. The sacrifice at the instigation of the priesthood was consumed by heavenly fire as was the sacrifice at the dedication of the temple.

In the New Testament John the Baptist promised that Jesus ‘will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire’ (Matthew 3:11). When Jesus returns it will be with ‘blazing fire’ (II Thessalonians 1: 7).  Our God after all is ‘a consuming fire’ (Deuteronomy 4: 24).

Paul inspires and exhorts us to be people of passion and fire – to keep our zeal alight and to blaze with spiritual fervour.  

Luke warm Christians have been the bane of the Church and never more so than in the Western church in the 21^st century where respectability and political correctness and God-help-us entertainment have infiltrated the ranks.

God is stirring up a fresh generation of radical, burning Christians. He wants believers who will be like John Wesley. ‘I felt ablaze with a desire to go the length and breadth of Wales to tell of the Saviour.’

I love the quote from W E Sangster when interviewing a nervous young man who said that he was not the type to set the Thames on fire replied, ‘I’m not interested to know if you could set the Thames on fire but if I was to pick you up by the scruff of the neck and drop you into the Thames, would it sizzle!”

God is looking for a generation of sizzling Christians whose lives have been burnt up on the altar of his love who are now ablaze with his presence. Zeal needs a fuel. The fuel is God’s presence, daily pursued by people not prepared to be half-hearted or lukewarm but devoted to their Lord and Saviour.

The giants of our day are not going to be overthrown by timid, fearful Christians but by burning Christians. That does not necessarily mean noisy and outspoken.  Quiet and passionate is powerful.

Let’s put some fuel on the fire of our lives and burn with God’s love that transforms our world.

Footnote: I am grateful to Simon Ponsonby and his book on Romans entitled God is for us. I have shamelessly taken the title of this blog from him.