Cabinet Keeper Flames

Last week campfires crackled over perfectly dried pine and maple logs. The more wood the higher the flames. Perfection in my eyes, since I'm bit of a pyro. Plus, the bigger the fire, the better the coals. Deep reds, pinks, and whites. The art changes in the pit, but by morning the fire is gone.

As children, my brothers and I used to burn huge boxes that my Dad's Maitland Kabinet Keeper cupboards were shipped in. We'd take three or four boxes, sometimes 2.5' by 5' tall, and create picturesque teepee fires. On days when we were feeling slightly more adventurous, we would take a pail full of sawdust from under Dad's table saw, and hold it over the fire, sprinkling the sawdust slowly over the fire so that the fire had a ladder to climb. We would toss the bucket when we could no longer handle the heat in our hands. I must admit that we did this when Mom and Dad weren't around, but one time we still got caught because the flames had risen so high and hot it killed half the new maple tree beside my Dad's shop. He wasn't impressed, we could have destroyed his livelihood.

Big fires, little fires, or a tiny candle, they all burn when they are being fed... and that made me think about my soul at the moment. I am a small candle that is struggling to burn. I feel like I have lost a lot of zeal and I want to once again be on fire for God.

Last night, Dad was super tired, but decided that he would still read the Today Booklet (July 28, 2010) and Bible after supper, for devotions. When he came to the final prayer he read: "Father, we know that now is the time for us to pay attention and stay awake." And then he let out a huge yawn, and I started to chuckle, thinking that was ironic timing. He continued with "Help us so that we can be in tune with you always, like Jesus. In his name, Amen. "

The yawn was a second reminder of how dull I feel life is for me. I'm ready for adventure, service, passion... and I am really trying to pay attention to God's voice in all these things.

John the Baptist once told the people that "I will baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Matthew 3:11

Just a few short years later, in Acts 2:3 "They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them."

Lord, please send your fire into my heart, so that I can burn bright for you.