Gifted By God
Paul goes on, and he shows us that a God-centred life is a life in which we use the gifts God gave us. Have a look at this powerful passage he wrote to Timothy: “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:6-7 NIV)
A God-centred life is one in which we fan into the flame the gifts he gives us. That’s a lovely picture isn’t it? Fanning into flame the gift he gave us? For many of us, God gives us the wonderful gift of His Spirit, and instead of fanning this spark of a gift into a burning flame, we let it die out. Instead of fanning it into flame so that we live a powerful, loving, self-disciplined Christian life, we leave it alone. We neglect it. We focus on other things. And the gift of the Spirit in us fizzles out.
Fan the Flame
But a God-centred life is a life where our days are spent fanning the flame. You can fan the flame, or let the flame fizzle. It’s up to you.
When I was candidating for the ministry in the Methodist Church of South Africa, we had to complete a long questionnaire asking us all sorts of things. On one page we were asked to write down what books - apart from the Bible - influenced our Christian journey. And one of the books I put down was a book called “Ablaze for God” by Wesley Duewel. This book changed my life, truly, when I read it in 2020. Here is what Duewel wrote in that book about this very verse: “Whatever the cost, we must keep the flame of the Spirit burning on the altar of our hearts. The Greek word in “fan into flame” in 2 Timothy 1:6 refers to the use of a bellows to cause a smoldering fire to flame up. This takes effort. Timothy was to do all in his power to intensify the manifestation of the flame of the Spirit. Our cooperation with the Spirit is essential to consistency of flowing ardor, spiritual radiance, and flaming zeal.”
What a great picture of the God-centred life! A life in which we are using bellows to fan the flame of God’s Spirit in us! Do you know what bellows do? They’re instruments which push out air. And so you use them to fan a flame. The more air, the more the flames grow!
Fan Your Faith
Are we bellowing air onto the flame of the Spirit within us? Are we feeding the flames or letting them die out?
Friends, a God-centred life is one where we don’t let the fire go out, but we spend our days earnestly fanning the flame through prayer, through Bible reading, through worshipful music, through God-focused content, through time with Christian friends, through church services and Bible studies, through quiet moments with God.
This type of life results in power, love and self-discipline, as Paul told Timothy. That’s how I want to live. How about you?
