A common question that is asked when we see someone who is passionate about their faith is, ”How do I get that same fire in my soul? How are they able to have such passion and such fervour for the things of God?” Most of us struggle to maintain our passion and to discipline ourselves in our Christian walk. We want to know how to get that fire and to keep that fire burning inside us for the long haul.
The answer is always in the Text (
“Is not my word like
fire, declares the Lord and like a hammer that breaks rocks to pieces.” — Jeremiah 23:29
). The fire is in the book! As we study and wrestle with the words in the book
and commit them to memory, we begin to develop that fire in our chest. There is
no substitute for the hard work it takes to become a disciple that has passion
for the Text. The fire is there in the Book; it has always been there. As you
seriously read the Text, you begin to develop the hunger that eventually becomes
a consuming fire.
There is no shortcut to developing the fire. You can’t go to a weekend
seminar and learn the three steps to obtaining it. The disciple has to do the
hard work of taking the Word in and then walking it out and being obedient to
it. It will be the hardest thing you have ever done, but think of the
reward!
I just want to challenge you to start reading a “chapter
a day” Start in Matthew and read all 4 gospels in a row, read Proverbs or
Psalms, or read the whole book like the guys in this fun video did: Bible in a
minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
