Spread the Fire

 I stumbled across a prayer that I wrote back in 2015 today written in the margins of a book. One line in that prayer captured my attention. I asked God to help me, "spread the fire." To be aflame for Jesus and that the Spirit of God would let that flame be contagious to others who cross my path. Of course, that necessitates that I have a heart on fire before I can ever hope to spread any fire. 

This reminds me of something I read this morning in my Bible reading. It is a little phrase at the end of Matthew 3:11. "...He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." I know this phrase has caused many theological divisions among scholars. I hope to be much more basic and practical in my interpretation. 

The word baptize means to "immerse, submerge, or overwhelm." John the Baptist prophesied that the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Take all the preconceived arguments down and I ask this one simple question. Have we been immersed, submerged and overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit? I am not referring to some second experience with God. I am more interested in the day to day living. Do we live submerged and overwhelmed in the Spirit of God just like a person gets completely covered by water in water baptism. 

Before we get hung on that, what about being baptized with fire. Can we say that our hearts are ablaze with the fire of God raging in them because God submerged us in His holy fire? I think it would be more common for people to characterize their lives as being lukewarm. 

For the life of me I cannot understand why all of us do not live in state of fire in our hearts. We have all we need. For those truly saved we have the Holy Spirit, we have the Bible, we have access to God through prayer and we have His church. We do not need anything more than those things. So let me pry? Is your heart on fire? If so what is the level of the fire? Is is a smoldering fire offering more smoke than heat? It is a mere shadow of what it once was just leaving burning embers behind of a fire that was burned brightly? Is it on fire but fading needing more fuel? Is is like a bonfire in your soul? 

May God raise people to burn for Him so brightly that others will be drawn to the flame to watch it at first, but to catch it also. 

Throughout history there have been many fiery souls who spread the flame. Martin Luther. John Wesley. George Whitfield. William and Katherine Booth. Billy and Ruth Graham. Jackie Pullinger. So many people. 

Are we the kind of people that pour cold water on the flames of other people or do we spread the fire. I want to be one to spread the fire through passionate praying, zealous preaching, enthusiastic witness and remaining close to the source of the flame. 

Time spent with God is the source of the flame. Encounters with Him in the secret place and in the pages of the Bible serve as fuel for the flame. If a person does not practice these disciplines it is doubtful they will maintain any fire or spread that fire to others. May we burn for God to our last breath and spread the flame all along the way.