February 21 Keeping Faith Alive

Leviticus 6:13 The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

Smith says, “Anyone who had ever built a fire knows that it is a lot easier to add fuel periodically and stir the embers than to let the fire go out and have to start all over again.” He goes on to talk about this as a metaphor for our spiritual walk and God’s desire for us to engage in daily devotion, for his own glory, but also for our good.

As I thought about this, it made me think of how much God asks of us or puts into our lives that we misunderstand…because of sin. Sin so flaws even our thinking and reasoning that we assume God is all about God – exercising his power and authority and making us suffer, taking the fun out of our lives.

The reality is that God so loves us that he designs our lives and all that comes into each life for our good. Even the for his glory part is for our good because God blesses us as we glorify him. The problem is that we assume God behaves as we do, motivated by our own desires, achieving our own goals and glory, and that is just not how it works.

So to keep our heads straight, to keep from being influenced by the world’s messages and values, God tells us to pay attention to the company we keep, to meditate, to memorize his word (store it in our hearts), and to pray without ceasing, among other things. The more we immerse ourselves in things of the Lord, the more easily we will be able to tell the genuine from the fake, God’s love from the world’s seductions.

Another thought came to my mind as I read this: a conversation I had with someone I was interviewing today. We were talking about marriage and the importance of nurturing it. Too often, couples get married and stop courting. I know that’s an old-fashioned word, but I like it. It has the sense of seeking the affections of another (usually with the hope of marriage). Note the seeking the affections part of that definition.

Each member of the couple does what he or she can to show his or her love and earn the love of the other. In other words, they are on their best behavior – looking good and doing good. Then there is the exchange of rings and months of flaming passion…very often anyway. Then each partner begins to take the spouse for granted, slipping back into sloppy sweats, as it were. Boredom sets in, and the fire goes out.

Just as God called the Israelites to keep the fire on the altar going, as he calls us to daily communion with himself, I think he also is honored by our nurturing our marriages, keeping those fires burning, by continuing to pay loving attention to each other.

Well, I’ve rambled today, but I still think God wants us to nurture both our relationship with him and our relationship with our mates… and our friends for that matter.