Fan the Flame

2 Timothy 1:3-12

 

You may have heard the story of a minister visiting a parishioner who hadn’t been to church in a while. The parishioner happened to have a fire in the fireplace. The minister didn’t say a thing. Instead, he separated one ember from the main part of the fire. Eventually, that lone ember died out. The parishioner got the message.

 

How do you fan the flame of your faith to keep it going? Paul wrote this to Timothy.

 

⁴ I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again. ⁵ I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.      NLT

 

Paul is writing to Timothy from prison. Not the nice rented house he had in Rome, but the one for common criminals where he was chained. Paul knew that he was nearing the end of his life, and he wanted to encourage Timothy in his faith.

 

Sometimes I think of Paul as this Type A personality who had little thought for others; only thinking of what he wanted to accomplish; of what his self-driven goals were. But the above words to Timothy focused on the love between them and towards the origins of Timothy’s faith.

 

⁹ For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus... ¹¹ And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.       NLT

 

God had a plan for Paul and for Timothy. That plan included their lives crossing paths to the point where Paul referred to Timothy as his “true son in the faith”. Paul was encouraging Timothy to speak into the hearts of those that God had brought into his life.

 

⁶ 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.       NIV

 

How do you fan the flame of your faith to keep it going?

 

Paul encouraged Timothy to look at the beginnings of his faith. He pointed out how God had a plan for Timothy’s life. Finally, he told Timothy that he had been called by God to spread the Gospel.

 

Over the centuries, Paul is writing the same message to us. Fan the flame of your faith to keep it burning brightly.

 

 

 

 

(If God has spoken to you, or touched your heart through this devotional, please feel free to share it with others.)