“On Fire For God”

Habanero Pepper

“Being on fire” is an expression used to describe a real sold out, committed believer. The daily Scripture texts teach that this is how we ought to be. The underlying Greek word for “fervent” is “zeo”, which means, “to be hot.” It’s used to describe the preaching of Apollos in Acts 18:25 who “spoke with great fervor.”
The challenge in the spiritual life is to “keep your spiritual fervor.” I sure find a tendency for mine to wane and I need to regularly heed Paul’s words to Timothy “to fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6).
We also need to heed that short word of exhortation expressed in the second verse and “not put out the Spirit’s fire.” Many of us are familiar with the way the King James Version words this phrase, “Quench not the Spirit.” The word for “quench” literally means “extinguish” and although I am thankful for fire extinguishers, as well as the extinguishing affect of lots of water after eating a hot pepper, we need to be very careful that we do not extinguish the Spirit’s fire!

Father, help us to stir up the fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives through faithful reading and application of the Scriptures. Though there are daily temptations and experiences that want to extinguish the fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we thank You that Your abiding presence in our hearts is greater than the foe that seeks to deter us. May we always be attentive to Your still small voice and the convicting power of Your Holy Spirit as we keep our spiritual fervor in serving You. Amen.