Is Your Fire Burning Out?
Have you ever found yourself no longer passionate about something that in the past was what excited you? Has your once raging fire almost totally burned itself out? Think about marriage. A man and a woman get married, they go on a honeymoon, the passion burns strong for a few years, but over time, unless they work hard to keep the spark ignited, the flame soon begins to burn less and less brightly. Maybe today you find yourself simply going through the motions in school or in your job. Or possibly for you, life in general has become mundane. What once ignited a spark in you is these days just ho hum.
In my football playing days, the season was long and draining. Two hot weeks of preseason camp followed by ten weeks of practice, games and film, and several times, and hopefully a few more weeks of playoff games. By the end of the season, the excitement that was ignited right before the opening kickoff of the season’s first game had been replaced by a mind and body wondering if all the pounding was worth it.
That childhood enthusiasm you once had, maybe these days it is nothing more than a distant memory. Admit it, life is hard, and sometimes we find ourselves simply going through the motions. We get up in the morning, do whatever it is we do during the day, fall into bed exhausted, and tomorrow, the same old same old. There is no time or energy to get passionate. That glow you once had, it has long faded away. I do acknowledge that many life situations, possibly one you are facing right now, make it hard to find joy or passion. You are simply in survival mode.
After a long week at work, and now that fall weather is here, one of the things my wife and I love to do is sit by our fire ring under a starlit night. We enjoy roasting sausages and hot dogs, sharing a nice bottle of wine, listening to music, engaging in good conversation, while allowing the heat from the fire to warm us as the temperature drops. With each new log put on the fire its intensity increases. But, if we fail to tend to the fire, it will burn out, leaving us sitting in the cold night shivering and staring into the darkness.
Our relationship with Jesus often follows that same path; the fire that started out burning brightly, if left unattended, soon becomes nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash. When you first become a Christ-follower, you burn red hot, wanting to know and grow in this new relationship. But over time, that passion begins to fade. You still pray, read your Bible, attend church and small groups, and serve the needy, but it has become more about doing all the right stuff, checking all the right boxes, than falling more in love with Jesus and becoming more like Him in the process. Your fire has burned out, you have become lukewarm.
The Bible warns against that very thing. In Revelation 3:16, these words are spoken to the church at Laodicea: “So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Contrasted to that, the apostle Paul tells us this, found in Romans 12:11 – “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
So, today, if you find that your fire is no more than warm embers, or maybe even burned out altogether, begin taking steps to reorient your perspective, and ask God to ignite a new fire in you, not just for the things of life but also in your relationship with Him. And passion also attracts others; it has a way of being contagious.
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