Keep the Flame Burning

“As you received Christ Jesus, so walk in Him” — Colossians 2:6.

It is much easier to keep a fire burning than to rekindle it once it has gone out. Let us abide in Him. Let us not have to clear cinders and ashes from our hearth every day and light a new flame. Instead, let us keep the fire burning and never allow it to die. The ancient Greeks never allowed their sacred fire to go out. In a higher sense, let us keep the heavenly flame burning on the altar of the heart.

Maintaining a good habit takes far less effort than forming it. Once a true spiritual habit has been formed, it becomes a natural movement of our inner being, and following it brings us into a growing, joyful freedom. “Let us not keep laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, but go on to maturity. And in what we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule and be of the same mind.”

Every spiritual habit begins with difficulty, effort, and watchfulness. But if we allow it to become firmly established, it will become a channel through which life from God flows freely and spontaneously.