When the Fire's Gone...

Imagine the following scene: Cheryl has been given the honour of carrying the Olympic torch for part of its journey around the world prior to the Games. The flame is passed to her and she runs, the crowd cheers, her heart is full of pride that this is her moment. But somehow the flame goes out!

Still she runs, shrugging her shoulders. After all she still has the torch! But now the crowd has stopped cheering and are looking at her perplexed. She holds the torch higher hoping it will renew their cheering but ... nothing.

It is the flame that's important, not the torch. It's so easy to live our life like that: carrying the torch of a Christian identity, but missing the very flame that gives it its meaning and its poignancy.

I dwell a lot on the ups and downs of life, of Kingdom-living, of spirituality and motivation. There's been so many times when it felt like the fire was gone. The fire of God's presence, of my resolve, my spiritual passion, my love for God and for the Mission...

The thought for this stream of posts (Relighting the Fire) stems from an invitation (one issued often in the past 20 years by God's Spirit to Yours Truly): to revive that profound spiritual ardour that has perhaps waned - even died …

It's (I hope) also going to be an invitation to go beyond the passion you used to have for God or the level of intimacy you think you want and to explore the undiscovered territory where Jesus Himself intended to lead you when He first said to you: “Follow me.”