Leviticus 6

Keeping the fire burning

A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out. ~ Leviticus 6:13

 Have you ever noticed how easy it is to start something with passion, but much harder to keep that passion alive? Whether it is your relationship with God, a calling, a dream, or even a habit of prayer, beginning is rarely the challenge. It is consistency in staying faithful, even on ordinary days, that requires commitment. In Leviticus 6, God gives the priests a simple but powerful command: Keep the fire on the altar burning at all times. The fire was not to spark only during special moments, it was to stay lit continually.

This same principle speaks into your life today. The fire in your heart for God needs tending, feeding, and attention, especially in seasons when you feel tired, distracted, or stretched thin. From this passage, here are three important lessons about keeping the fire of your devotion to God burning strong.

1. Daily tending keeps the fire alive.

The priests were instructed to add wood every morning. They could not let the fire burn on yesterday’s fuel. You cannot depend on yesterday’s prayers or yesterday’s encounters with God to sustain today’s spiritual fire.

Choose one consistent moment in your day to spend with God. Set an appointment with Him. It does not have to be long, but it does need to be intentional.  I recommend first thing in the morning.  Giving Him the priority of the day send His Spirit ahead of you to prepare the day for you to walk through every circumstance by His grace.

• Read one Psalm or Proverb each morning and ask God to speak through it.
• Whisper a simple prayer before you pick up your phone.
• Write one sentence in a journal about what you want God to help you with today or something your are thankful for.

There was a time when every day felt rushed and scattered, and my time with God was inconsistent. I made a choice to get up an hour earlier each morning. That may seem hard, but that simple adjustment changed my world.  That small step became the wood that kept my heart steady and continually on fire. It has changed the entire tone of my life.

2. Clearing out the ashes makes room for fresh fire.

The priests had to remove the ashes from the altar. If they let the ashes pile up, the fire would eventually suffocate. Ashes represent the leftover remains of what once burned. Sometimes your heart gets crowded with old disappointment, old habits, or old thoughts that keep the fire from growing. Take time to release what is no longer serving your spiritual life.

• Write down what has been weighing on your heart and give it to God in prayer.
• Limit one distracting habit for one week and see how much freer your mind becomes.
• Forgive someone you have been carrying in your thoughts.

I used to live my life letting discouragement piled up like ashes. I was praying, but I still felt heavy. God showed me that I was letting old disappointments take up space in my mind and in my heart suffocating His fire in me. When I chose to forgive and let those memories go, I felt room in my heart again for His peace, joy and purpose.

3. The fire grows stronger with obedience.

The continual fire was an act of obedience. The priests didn’t keep it burning because they felt inspired every day, they kept it burning because God instructed them to. In your life, obedience fuels spiritual passion far more than emotion ever will.

When you choose to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, He directs your steps toward the purpose and blessings God has already prepared for you. He knows where your deepest joy, fulfillment, and peace are found, and He guides you toward them one obedient step at a time.

Choose one simple step of obedience that you know God has been prompting you to take.

• Reach out to someone God has placed on your heart.
• Give God your yes in something small, such as serving or praying for someone.
• Finish the last thing God asked you to do before starting something new.

There have been many times when I sensed the Holy Spirit nudging me to encourage someone but I kept pushing it aside because I felt too busy. When I finally obeyed, something happened in my heart. I felt a new fire of joy and purpose burn stronger than before.

Today I want to encourage you to tend the fire God has placed inside your heart. Add fresh fuel to your relationship with Him, clear away what is trying to smother your passion and take the next obedient step He is putting before you. God has already given you everything you need to burn bright for Him, and He delights in keeping that fire alive in you day after day.

Today’s scripture reading: Leviticus 6

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 

2 “If a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, 

3 or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely—in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins: 

4 then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, 

5 or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering. 

6 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest. 

7 So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses.”

8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 

10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen trousers he shall put on his body, and take up the ashes of the burnt offering which the fire has consumed on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 

11 Then he shall take off his garments, put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 

12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 

13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.

14 ‘This is the law of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it on the altar before the Lord. 

15 He shall take from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the grain offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma, as a memorial to the Lord. 

16 And the remainder of it Aaron and his sons shall eat; with unleavened bread it shall be eaten in a holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of meeting they shall eat it. 

17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the trespass offering. 

18 All the males among the children of Aaron may eat it. It shall be a statute forever in your generations concerning the offerings made by fire to the Lord. Everyone who touches them must be holy.’ ”

19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer to the Lord, beginning on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at night. 

21 It shall be made in a pan with oil. When it is mixed, you shall bring it in. The baked pieces of the grain offering you shall offer for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 

22 The priest from among his sons, who is anointed in his place, shall offer it. It is a statute forever to the Lord. It shall be wholly burned. 

23 For every grain offering for the priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”

24 Also the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

25 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the Lord. It is most holy. 

26 The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of meeting. 

27 Everyone who touches its flesh must be holy. And when its blood is sprinkled on any garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled, in a holy place. 

28 But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. And if it is boiled in a bronze pot, it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water. 

29 All the males among the priests may eat it. It is most holy. 

30 But no sin offering from which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of meeting, to make atonement in the holy place, shall be eaten. It shall be burned in the fire.

Journal:
• What is one daily action I can take to tend the fire of my relationship with God?
• What ashes from the past do I need to clear out to make room for fresh fire?
• What simple step of obedience is God asking me to take right now?
• When have I felt the fire of God strongest in my life, and what helped it grow?