Hosanna Restoration Church

What a great reminder Paul gave Timothy when he wrote him. Paul acknowledged that he knew Timothy was sincere in his trust of the Lord, but it was not enough to just be sincere. Many sincere people have been knocked off of their foundation and seen their fire die. It seems to me that Paul was saying it is good to be sincere, but he better fire up. This is of course also a reminder to us.

The Bible also refers to our life of faith as running a race or an athletic contest for a prize. Have you ever watched how athletes take the field? They are pounding their chests, jumping, running, flexing, and well they are just plain getting ready. They know that they will need to be pumped and going 110% or they will get blown out. It is not enough for them to sincerely want to win; they need to perform at the top of their game.

The same is true for us in our walk of faith. We cannot just sit around sincerely devoted to our beliefs. It is not our beliefs that are important. We must be sincerely devoted to Jesus. How often do you hear people say that they have their faith and that Jesus knows they are sincere? We need to be careful that we are not so settled in “our” faith that we forget whom our faith is in.

Paul told Timothy to fan the gift he had received into flames. The King James Version of the Bible says to stir up the gift, but I think fanning it into flames gives a better picture of what happens when we receive the gift of salvation. You see we can become so sincerely dull that our fire goes completely out and we do not even notice it. However if we keep the fire burning it will continue to consume everything that will burn in our lives.

If you have ever started a campfire, you know that it takes a bit to get it going. Once you have it going to want to keep it burning brightly. Many times you can get up in morning and find a hot spot underneath and if you add a little kindling and a little wind you can get it burst into flames again.

Often times, we may be like a morning campfire. We may have a little hot spot somewhere going, but it needs to be fanned back into flames. The gift that God gave us is salvation. Salvation is life. Salvation empowers us to overcome all that is not what God wants in our lives and to receive all that God wants for our lives.

Simple sincerity is not powerful faith. A load of wood dumped on a fire will be consumed, but a load dumped on a little coal will more than likely put it out. Let us all strive to keep a fire burning that cannot be put out as we press for the fullness of our salvation.