Fires burn brightly only as long as they're stoked.
This past month, you had the opportunity to commit to new levels in your relationship with God. You boldly filled out your card, and in a wave of momentum, turned in it.
Had any second thoughts since? Had any doubts that you'll actually be able to meet that financial commitment, or fit that area of service into your busy schedule? That's not such a bad thing. It means that you've given God room to work and that without new dependence on him, it's not going to happen.
God delights in our dependence on him, you know. He waits for us to ask for help. But when we have all the answers already or we do things in our own strength, we leave no opportunity for him to be glorified. It becomes about what we can do, rather than what he can do through us.
In coming weeks, as the lessons of Treasures of the Transformed Life settle into your consciousness, it will be possible for you to lose steam and to forget what it was all about. On the other hand, you could take what you've learned and build on it.
Remember that very first chapter, the one that talked about not even realizing your thirst? Over the past forty days, you gained new insight into how thirsty you really were, and discovered that the only thing that will really satisfy is pure, living water, poured into your life through consistent prayer, Bible study, acts of service, fellowship with other Christians, and regular financial gifts.
That kind of water is not the type that puts out a fire. Rather, it's the kind that stokes it, and allows us to burn so brightly that we draw others to us like moths to a flame. So what will you do to keep that fire burning brightly, keeping the principles of the last few weeks in the forefront?
How about this? The next time you see a glass of water-and every time thereafter-you'll be compelled to take a long, satisfying drink. It is that living water that transforms us, until that day when we don't even recognize who we used to be.