"All fired up"

 

I love bonfires. I think it's probably a "man thing", but the bonfires that we had at the first couple of Christian Anglers Retreats when we were camping on the Dixon's farm were almost as much of a highlight as the fishing. We sat talking and staring into the flames as they leapt skywards, conversations about fishing and faith and life, with all the while the flames exerting a mesmeric pull - you just can't not gaze at a fire as it burns brightly.

Fire and flames feature a lot in Scripture, too. Timothy is told by Paul to "fan into flame" the gift he has, the pre-incarnate Christ appears in the flames with Meshach, Shadrach and Abednigo in the "firey furnace", and when the Holy Spirit shows up at Pentecost what look like flames are seen on the heads of the now emboldened apostles.

A friend of mine wrote a book a few years ago. Its title was "Fire of the Word", and it's main point was that reading the Bible shouldn't just be a routine or boring duty, but rather a place of exciting encounter. Using the analogy of the Burning Bush from which God spoke to Moses in Exodus, my friend's premise was that reading Scripture is meeting God on holy ground, and is supposed to be an exciting, dynamic encounter with the living God through His written word. Powerful stuff.

So, here's the challenge. If your reading of the Bible has become hum-drum, boring and predictable (or irregular and occasional), why not ask God to, by his Spirit, help the Scriptures to once again "come to life" for you. Don't be too ambitious- five minutes of expectant reading is worth more than an hour of dutiful trudge or well-intentioned resolutions that you'll never keep- and let's allow God to "fire us up" and set our hearts ablaze as we encounter Him through the pages of the Bible.