Fan the Flame
Thursday’s Verse:
From 2 Timothy 1:6 ESV
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”
Paul penned these words to Timothy, who very well may have been downtrodden by the weight of his youth on his shoulders. Ministry wasn’t easy. Persecution was imminent. Paul was in prison. Timothy could have easily allowed discouragement to smother the flames of his faith.
Instead, Paul charges him: fan into flame the gift of God.
Notice what Paul does not say. He doesn’t instruct Timothy to go make a gift. He doesn’t say “try harder to be more gifted.” Oh no. The gift is already there. It’s a gift FROM God.
It was given by grace.
You were given the gift of God in Baptism. There, your Lord poured out upon you His Spirit. He still gives you by His Word: faith, forgiveness, and new life. To some, He gives gifts of preaching, teaching, serving, encouraging, leading, and showing mercy. These gifts are not rewards we earn by being spiritual superheroes. They are gifts given directly into our hands by our generous heavenly Father.
But fires must be tended to.
Even fires that are real.
Faith becomes small if we stop reading His Word. Courage will fail if we look at our fears longer than we look to Christ. Love will grow cold if we isolate ourselves from His body. The fire won’t go out because God failed in giving it. It will dwindle because we’ve stopped nurturing it.
So how do we fan it back up?
By going back to the means of grace. By hearing the Word. By receiving the Sacrament. By confessing our sins and hearing absolution. God who ignited that flame in the first place, will use those very gifts to grow it stronger and brighter still.
And that, dear friends, is the beauty of it all. The power does not reside in Timothy. It does not reside in you. In the very next verse, Paul declares, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” The same God who bestows the gift upon us will uphold it by His grace.
So if you find yourself burnt out, feel weak, feel foolish, take heart. Know that the Lord has already placed a gift within you. Go back to Him. He is there waiting for you. Read Scripture. Come to the altar. Pray.
Let us fan the flame of God’s gift by stopping trying so hard to give Him something and start receiving what He so freely gives.
The fire burns in Christ.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Almighty Father, I pray that You would fan the flame of Your most blessed gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, in my life today. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above is licensed through Unsplash+