Stir The Fire

 

Elder Bill Walden

 
2 Timothy 1:6 “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.“

We will have a much greater understanding of Paul's words to Timothy if we understand the meaning of “stir up the gift.” The meaning is to “rekindle the gift by stirring,” as to stir up the fire. I remember as a young child my grandparents had a huge fireplace in their living room in their log house, and my grandfather would place a large log at the back of the fire called the “back-log.” It would burn slowly, and in the morning it would appear to be burned out, but he would take the iron poker and begin to stir the ashes, and a wonderful, warm fire would be rekindled. Timothy, and we as well, must stir the fire that God has put in our heart. It is understood that if there is no fire there is no stirring, which illustrates a beautiful truth that God must first build the fire.