James 3:5b NLT
…But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.
When I was a boy attending Catholic school, we learned this song that has always been a favorite Hymn of mine. I still remember singing these words with the nuns leading…
It only takes a spark
To get a fire going
And soon all those around
Can warm up in its glowing
That’s how it is with God’s love
Once you’ve experienced it
You spread His love to ev’ryone
You want to pass it on
Hymn by Kurt Kaiser … Listen To It Hear
Today, as I think about this song and how a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire, it seems that it has even more meaning to me. God has put a “spark” in all of us through His gifts of the Holy Spirit.
1 Peter 4:10 NLT
[10] God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
Each of us are able to use our gifts and talents so that we might set ablaze the hearts of those around us. The spark might just be a small gesture like; doing a good deed, saying a kind word, giving of your time, helping a neighbor, delivering food to someone that is sick, and many others.
As when making a campfire, the spark only happens when we apply the flint to the steel. The flint and steel are merely the method of creating the spark. In the same way, the gift you have inside of you is sitting and waiting to be ignited. We, In other words, we have to be purposeful in our daily walk and use the gifts that God has given us to create sparks all around us.
God’s gifts are different for everyone, yet the same Spirit lives and works through all of us. God is able to use our gifts for reaching the unsaved world. He gives us desires, passions, talents and abilities that are special and unique to us so that we can reach our circle of influence in a unique way that only you are equipped for. There’s no other “you” like you on the earth and God has a special and unique plan for you. In all of creation and the history of the world, God chose you to be you and give you the gifts to do a unique task that only you can do through His Spirit working through you.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 NKJV
[4] There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. [5] There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. [6] And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. [7] But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all…
The greatest spark that all of us have is LOVE. The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:13: And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. So everything we do must be done in love. This is the one gift that we all share and can pass it on through our other gifts. We have to look at everyone through the lens of our Heavenly Father as He loves everyone and is not willing that any should perish. It is our job to make sure that we are doing our part to carry this message on.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJV
[4] Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; [5] does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; [6] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; [7] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [8] Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
It has been said that the Christian message was not initiated in the English language. If not for the people of God using their gifts and abilities to spread the message of Jesus, many dying for the cause, we, as English-speaking Americans, would never have heard the gospel. Can you imagine that? In many cases, they did small, random acts of kindness that spread the love and message of Jesus throughout different lands. These sparks have set so many others’ hearts ablaze across the world. It is for us to keep the sparks flying and keep setting the hearts of others around us ablaze.
We’ve all got a “spark” deep down inside of us. Let God’s Spirit blow on the coals of our hearts and set ablaze the passion to reach this world for Jesus using the gifts that He has given us and — PASS IT ON!
I love you and am praying for you today!
Dad