One of the things I would love to do is take my kids on a backyard camping trip… if I had a yard!
But I can imagine if I did, we would probably make a warm fire, share some fun stories, sing some funny songs, and maybe even eat s’mores under the light of the moon. It would be awesome!
I can also imagine waking up in the middle of the night freezing cold, teeth chattering, limbs stiff, and absolutely miserable because the fire went out! I could get up, grab some more logs, and get the fire going again, but to do that I would need to get out of the bag. I would need to become even more cold and even more miserable to get warm again. And while I would hate getting out of that bag to brave the cold, it would be the very best thing for me and for my kids!
This is just like my walk with God. Sometimes the fires are hot and beautiful, glowing and warming me and even the people around me. Other times, I wake up with my spiritual teeth chattering, my soul stiff, and clinging to my blanket. My greatest need is not to wait the coldness out until morning. My greatest need is to have those fires revived again so that I can be warm and people around me can benefit as well.
John Piper tells us:
“If life were a steady ascent with no dips in our affection for God, we wouldn’t need to be revived.”
Yesterday’s white hot flame might barely be an ember today. Our hearts need continual revival to stay hot. Anything less guarantees they will be cold.
Thankfully, Jesus has given us the log we need for the fire. We need only to get out of the sleeping bag. He has given us His Word that will revive and warm the soul of frozen people when they grow cold. George Muller said it well:
“The first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished… I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.”
Our hearts long to be told the truth of God. It sets them on fire! More than anything else His Word sets our hearts ablaze and keeps the fires going. If your heart feels cold and far from God, get out of the bag that is keeping you cold, and warm yourself at the fires of God’s Holy Word. Open it; sit in it; meditate upon it, and plan to stay awhile.
"When Satan huffs and puffs and tries to blow out the flam of our joy, we have an endless supply of kindling in the Word of God." John Piper
