I lost a maple tree to blight last year and had to cut it down, which left an ugly stump in my backyard. Someone made the suggestion that I bore several holes in it, fill them with kerosene and let it soak. Do this four or five times and it will burn the stump completely out down through the roots. So I gave it a shot and it didn’t work. The kerosene burned hotly, but barely touched the wood before it burned out. I went through several gallons of kerosene before I realized this just doesn’t work.

The next time I soaked it down with kerosene and set it ablaze, I set several pieces of really old and dried firewood on top of the burning stump. That really ate away at the stump. I had to do that several times, but adding the extra fuel to prolong the fire is making all the difference.

That’s probably a good lesson for our own spiritual fire that keeps burning out. We need to add some extra fuel to the fire. Fuel is spending time in God’s Word, in prayer, and in meditation. A book I’m reading right now that is fuel to my spiritual fire is Francis Chan’s Crazy Love. What are you adding to your spiritual fire today?