Stir up the Flame

The air was bone-chilling cold. The fire had gone out and it seemed useless to pick up the stick and stir the ashes which looked so lifeless. Yet, when I began to stir around in the ashes, sparks began to fly, embers were exposed to the air and they began to flame into life. The embers that came to life had not been apparent before I stirred up the ashes. I added some small twigs and in a short period of time, after feeding the fire with some larger pieces, I had a full-grown fire to warm myself.  Paul urged Timothy, “Stir up the gift of God within you (2Tim.1:6 KJV).” There was no impassioned plea for Timothy to sit quietly by until a holy stick-bearing angel came and stirred up the fire. Actually, the imperative is to do just the opposite: “[You] Fan into flame the gift of God.” This phrase was used in the common vernacular of the time to describe the rekindling of a fire that had been allowed to die down through neglect (W.E. Vine).