Fan the Flames
DAILY PRAYER AND BIBLE READING ARE FUEL FOR THE FLAMES OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read 2 Timothy 1:3-6.
Verse of the Day: “Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you” (Mark 14:38).
Dylan and his dad were camping in the woods. They had started early that morning and had walked about five miles into the woods before taking off their backpacks and making camp. They set up their tent together, then Dad started a fire.
“A fire is very important on the trail,” Dad told Dylan. “It turns a cold, dark campsite into a temporary home.”
“Plus, it cooks our dinner!” Dylan said.
“That’s right,” Dad agreed. Before long, Dad and Dylan sat beside a crackling fire. Dad put a pot of water on the fire, and soon they were spooning hot noodles into their mouths, and Dad was sipping hot coffee.
“What happens if the fire goes out, Dad?” Dylan asked.
Dad shrugged. “We’d just have to start over,” he answered. “But it’s much easier to keep the fire going than it is to try to revive it.”
Dylan nodded and swallowed a mouthful of noodles. “But as long as we pay attention to it, and keep putting sticks on it, we’ll be all right, won’t we, Dad?”
Dad smiled and nodded. Then his face got serious as he thought of something. “You know, Dylan,” he said, “it’s sort of the same way with us.”
Dylan squinted at his dad. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you want to obey God and please him, right?”
“Uh-huh,” Dylan answered.
“But you know you can’t do that all by yourself, right?” Dylan nodded. “I need God’s help.”
“That’s right,” Dad said. “You see, Dylan, your heart is like that fire. If you pay attention to it, and keep feeding it like you would a fire, it’ll produce obedience to God just like that fire produces flames.”
Dylan grabbed a dry stick from the ground beside the fire and placed it in the flames. “Only I don’t put sticks in my heart!” he said.
Dad chuckled. “No.”
“But I can pray every day, can’t I, Dad?”
“Right,” Dad said. “And reading your Bible will help you obey God, too.”
Dylan nodded. He understood. He picked up another stick and added it to the fire. “I want to keep our fire going.”
“So do I,” Dad answered.
TO DISCUSS: Can you please God and obey him all by yourself? Why or why not? Whose help do you need? Do you think praying and reading your Bible every day will help you make right choices? Why or why not?
TO PRAY: “Lord Jesus, we want to please you. Sometimes we think we have to do things on our own. Remind us, Lord, of the daily help you provide.”