Nope, I don\'t mean
Light the fire while the heatwave lasts!
(in UK for now anyway)
But in the Old Testament
They had a fire for the altar
The altar of burnt offerings
The way of animal sacrifices for those days
Until Jesus came in New Testament days
The days we are in now
That fire was never to go out
It was ever to be kept burning
Lord, let that fire keep burning
On the \'mean altar of my heart\'
As one hymn says
Though it burn dim at times
Though it be blown by changes, distractions
Or whatever may cause it to diminish
Yet even a spark, an ember....
Fan it back into life
By the life, the power, of your Spirit
Surely a co-operation
We don\'t sit back while you, Lord, stoke all the fire
But neither do we do it all in our own strength
But also like incense rising
Ascending from the \'sanctuary\' of our heart
That incense needing to be lit first
To smoke, to give off fragrance
So spreading, so sharing with others
The light of Christ
\'The fire of His love\'
As one Collect (formal prayer) says
For you, Lord, quench not a smouldering wick
You will not snuff it out
Nor break a broken reed
You will not snap it off......
There is preaching too
Preaching, yes, on a Sunday for example
Other days too
But not too be too \'preachy\'
In our everyday lives
It may put people off
I mean, we don\'t adopt a \'pulpit-style\' of speaking
In everyday conversations
But neither to compromise our faith
Lord, give us wisdom we pray
And whatever else we need....