Have you ever walked past an open fire that wasn’t yours? I mean you didn’t build it, you aren’t tending it, you weren’t involved in providing the necessary fuel to ignite or sustain it… but you walked by it, and when you did, you instantly felt the heat that it produced. You may or may not have acknowledged it, and you may or may not have paused and wandered closer… but regardless, you felt the heat.

For those of us that claim the name of Christ, and desire to follow Him faithfully, this image should be inspirational. In fact, it is the way that Jesus lived His life on earth. His actions, His interaction, and His insights provided warmth not only to those that were huddled around the fire of His life, but to passers by as well. In fact, it was often those on the periphery that were attracted the most magnetically to the heartbeat of Jesus. They felt the heat before they embraced the fire.

I’ve begun to systematically confront the notion in my mind that my job as a Christian in our society is to somehow scorch the evil right out of our culture. I used to think of myself as a flamethrower.

Today I have a different picture. One that’s not only more inviting to others, but frankly, one that generates significantly more heat than the old model.

I want my life to be a bonfire of grace and love. I want the flames to generate warmth, not only for friends and family, but for strangers and skeptics. I want my life to warm hearts as a part of the process of the Spirit igniting them.

I want the brokenness, disappointment, challenges and joys of my own life to provide ample kindling for the kind of fire that attracts and engages.

I want to be a beautiful bonfire of grace, humility and love… and I believe that it’s there that warmth captivates the rigid, lifeless and cold heart. Perhaps most often, to people who just happen to cross my path, who just happen to wander past the fire.

This is why I remind you to keep using the gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. Now let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire. God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control. ~ 2 Timothy 1:6, 7 (New Century)

Warmth, then fire. Merry Christmas.