UMC20221120 Small flames make big fires
UMC20221120 - Small flames make big fires¶
I used to be a physics teacher before I was an IT teacher and one of the things that always fascinated me was fire. What is fire? How does it work? It has this mystical quality about it. You cannot hold it but you can feel it. It can never exist on its own, it can only exist if it has a fuel source. It can cause tremendous damage yet it gives us the energy we need to live. It is always dancing, leaping, glowing, and moving.
In our faith, we say that a person is on fire when they share the qualities of fire. Someone who you cannot contain, but you can always feel their presence, someone who is explosive, always moving, someone who is “hot”, passionate and uncontrollable, someone whose passion catches other people on fire and their passion spreads like a wildfire, someone who is fully themselves and in love with life and with God. I want to be like that person! Don’t you?
The thing is, we are all that person. We are sick with comparison though and rarely look inside. We are always looking at those around us and saying “What can I do to be like them?” rather than saying “What can I do to be more like me?”. The thing about fire is that the size of the flame NEVER matters. A tiny flame from a single match can burn down an entire forest. God doesn’t care how large our fire is, God only asks us to bring what we have. Much like the boy and the fish, God multiplies our fire 1000 fold.
Have you been doubting your fire recently? Do you feel like your fire has been quenched? What fuel can you add to your fire? Who are you interacting with that makes your fire larger? Or smaller?
May you be filled with the fire of God in the week to come.
Love, Cliff