I love it when my husband Mike builds a fire for our indoor fire place or outdoor fire pit. The first thing he does is prepare. He walks around our yard gathering dry twigs and small sticks, also known as starter wood. He places the small twigs atop balled up newspaper and poof! Fire! But my husband doesn’t leave the fire, he watches and tends to it, because starter fires don’t last long as those dry twigs are too quickly consumed. Next step is adding larger pieces of dry wood to maintain a healthy strong fire.

I also love it when my husband shares with me spiritual nuggets he received during his private time with God. This devotion is one of his spiritual nuggets.  In sum, we all want a nice roaring spiritual fire at our churches. But we aren’t willing to put in the spiritual preparation time outside of church. That’s right, the fire at church doesn’t originate at church: it begins within the hearts of each one of us. But many people blame the Praise & Worship Team or the Pastor for not stoking their twiggy fire! If you want to experience the fire on Sunday, stop bringing twigs!!

“Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.” Leviticus 6:13

It is our responsibility to fan the flames; to keep it burning by adding fuel; and then to lay down our sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15)! Spending time daily in the Presence of God is like cutting substantial pieces of fire wood that we can bring with us on Sunday: it keeps the fire continually burning!

Do we eat only once a week? Gas up the car only once a year? Tend the lawn only once each summer? Sleep only one night a week? Surely you see where this is going? We need to tend to our spiritual needs DAILY, just like we tend to our physical needs! No one else can do this for us. When we neglect the Presence of God, our flame dies out. If you want the fire, you’ve got the gather wood!