campfires and Jesus

Campfires. There's just something about them that I have always loved. Maybe it's the way the smoke from the fire leaves its scent on my sweatshirt that I can still smell days after it happened. Maybe it's the way everyone can sit around the fire with a fire-y glare shining on their faces lighting up the conversations and laughter. Maybe its the warmth of standing close to the fire and stretching your hands as close as you can to the flame- just to get a bit warmer.

Or maybe it's the way that camp fires remind me of the relationship that I have with my Jesus. That's right- campfires remind me of Jesus. Have you ever seen people play with sticks in fire? You know, you always have a little kid at a campfire that searches in the woods until he finds a perfect stick and then brings it to the campfire, sticking it in until the tip catches on fire and then he waves it around and around making cool designs with the flame until it eventually flickers out and dies and the tip of the stick is black again. He then repeats the process of re-lighting the stick on fire. You see- our relationship with our Savior is sort of like that. Jesus Christ is the fire. When we engulf ourselves in Him and in His word, we take on a flame and begin to burn with passion for Him... by seeking His Kingdom, daily prayer time, daily meditation on scripture.... we have this burning passion for Him. It is when we begin to let the world defeat us and we take a step back from the "fire" and begin to do things our own way that our flame begins to flicker out and we lose our spark. We become dull and dirty. So what happens next? Either we remain in the cold and dark, or we relight our fire... we go back to the fire and "reach our stick into it to light it up again." When we turn our backs to Jesus and when we continually do not go to the fire to get warm and to renew that passion, we get lost in the darkness of the world. Where is our light that was once to easily seen in the darkest night? Just something to think about. This is what I began to think about as I watched the fire so beautifully last night. I hope you guys are enjoying these spring nights! It is finally starting to warm up here. Let's hope it stays this way!

Blessings to each and every one of you,