Fire of Faith

The following story was shared in a church meeting I attended last Sunday:  We went up for a youth winter camp and our first task in the early morning was to light the fires in the lodge.  There was a fire place at each end with a wood shed.  I chopped up some kindling, threw some logs on top, added a littel diesel fuel and lit the fire.  I headed for the other end and found there was no axe to chop up kidling so I just put the logs in, added a larger amount of diesel and lit the fire.  We went out to bring in all the gear and food for the weekend and before long I noticed the 2nd fire was out.  I applied a generous amount of diesel and lit it again.  The fire burned really hot and after a while we were all set up and the fire was out again.  I finally gave in, got the axe, cut some kindling and started the fire for the third time.  We had some extra time so we set off for a snowmobile ride and were gone for quite a while before coming back.  When we came back the fires had burned up all the wood and were out.  The coals were out so we added logs and fanned the embers until the fires were blazing again.

In my life the analogy of faith being like a fire has always resinated with me.  It seems when we are searching to build our faith that it does burn within our hearts.  We may have some huge, faith pormoting experience that makes our faith burn bright for a while (like the diesel) but unless we are maintaining our faith through prayer, study and service that big experience will not sustain our faith and like the 2nd fire will burn hot for a bit but will not cause a lasting fire.  It is through our small acts each day that we maintain the fire of our faith. 

We may even have times after that fire has burned bright that the fire burns out through neglect but those embers are still burried deep and we can build again.  I know that when we act in faith our faith will grow until it will again burn bright in our lives and it is a wonderful feeling.  When we live with faith fear is deminished.  What will you do today to feed the fire of your faith?