There are times when we falter in our pursuit of God. The wind and rain of life’s pressure comes against us to put out the fire of our passion for the Lord.

Jesus’ parable of the seed and the soils is fitting for times like that. In that parable Jesus describes how we receive God’s word into our life similarly to how different soil types receive seeds. Different types of soil bring about varying types of fruitfulness. As with certain soils that choke out growth, the stress, fear, and confusion of daily life may crowd out the possibility of fruitfulness for God’s kingdom in our lives.  We decrease in passion for Him and, as a result, we lose our fruitfulness in Him.

Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The Apostle was urging this young church to continually stoke the fires of their passion for God.

Paul’s words remind us to beware of actively resisting God’s work in our life. There are some of us who, through our strong longings and active pursuits, push against God and His work in our lives. Although we know that Jesus said the way leading to life is narrow (Matthew 7:14), at times we choose not to live in that way. In our thinking, speaking, and living we instead choose the broader way that is self-destructive. We resist God’s way and, thus, put out the Spirit’s fire and our passion for God.

But Paul’s words also to become active in our pursuit of God’s work in our life. There is a resistance that is active and there is a resistance that is passive. Active resistance is like putting on the brakes when driving a car; you resist the momentum of forward progress. Passive resistance is like coasting to a stop; you don’t necessarily resist but you allow momentum to expire over time. Paul makes no room for the steady expiration of momentum in our life with God. Paul does not give space for us to just let the fires slowly die out. Instead, he calls believers to actively work with God in our pursuit of His ways and purposes in our lives and the world.

When we live with God, we must continue to stoke the fires of our passion for Him. When we make a campfire, we stoke the fires by continually adding the fuel of oxygen and wood. We stoke the fires as we push around with a stick to create space in the burning flames for the oxygen to readily ignite the wood.

In our daily discipleship, we stoke the fires of our passion when we add the fuel necessary for growth. This fuel takes on the form of any number of practices or spiritual disciplines:

• we provide fuel when we read the Scriptures with the goal of an encounter with the living God
• we provide fuel when we allow the words of Scripture to sink into our souls as we gaze lovingly on our gracious Father
• we provide fuel when we take an active role in Christian community with others for growth and worship of God
• we provide fuel when we take steps to move away from old patterns of living and thinking

We also stoke the fires when we create space in our lives for God to truly ignite the fuel we have placed in our lives:

• we create space by getting away in solitude for prayer and meditation
• we create space when we fast, or skip meals, to express our longing for God more than the food of earth
• we create space when we draw away into the company of others who will speak God’s truth into our lives.

Are we stoking the fires of our passion for God? Are we adding the fuel? Are we creating the space necessary for the fuel to ignite?

May we be the sort of people who actively seek to ignite—and not extinguish—the Spirit’s fire in our lives.