Shake Off the Ashes
“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (II Timothy 1:6).
The concept of “stirring up” brings to mind the image of a campfire that needs stirring in order for the flame to burn brighter.
General Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, wrote to his followers: “The tendency of fire is to go out; watch the fire on the altar of your heart.”
“Stir up” comes from the Greek, “ana/zopureno.” The root “zopureno” refers to embers in which the flame has subsided. By putting the prefix “ana” in front it means “to kindle anew the flames of the fire.”
A modern translation reads: “I am reminding you to shake the ashes off the God-given fire that’s in you.”
Are you a Christian who is more like smoldering ashes than dancing fires?
I love to sit around a campfire with friends. I delight in using a long poker and moving the firewood around more often that is necessary. Every time they are stirred the fire burns better. Ash tends to form on the logs and smother would-be embers. When stirred the fire blazes. If fires had personalities they probably wouldn’t like the agitation. However, it enables the fire to do what it was created to do.
For some to grow spiritually they are going to have to reorder their priorities. They will have to stir up their schedule. That means rearrange it. In order to seek first the kingdom of God some stirring has to be done.
Has the ash of complacency taken the place of the fire of aggressive ministry in Christ’s name? Have you come to take the ministry of the church for granted?
Have you arrived at the point where you feel you have done your part and someone else should now take over?
Have the ashes of business take the place of service for the King in your life. Are you more pre-committed to some civic, social, or service organization than to serving the Lord?
Are the ashes of devotion cold on the altar of your heart? It is time to stir up the gifts of God that are within you.
It is a “gift of God” entrusted to you. It is His gift, you are responsible for its use. If, and it is His gift, it is a good gift. Get the drift? You have at your disposal God’s gift for you to use. What are you not doing spiritually that you know you should be doing? If there is such you are hiding your candle under a bushel.
Now is an ideal time to do what you have likely sung: “This little light of mine I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, no I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine.”
Prayer, Bible study, and worship are means of stirring up the gifts.
Once done, you likely will wonder why you didn’t do it a long time ago.