“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.” – 2Timothy 1:6
Timothy was overwhelmed with his pastoral responsibilities at the Church of Ephesus. His faith was flicking, and his spiritual resolve was dissipating. His mentor was imprisoned at Rome and this news was trickling into Ephesus generating a stream of questions that quenched his confidence to stand for the faith. How can such great Apostle who had stood for the faith be imprisoned and where is his God? The shame of how people might perceive this worn out his boldness to stand for the faith and defend his mentor. He therefore wrote to Paul seeking divine counsel that will boost his morale and energize his zeal to embark on his assignment.
Paul had hoped to be with him to provide the morale support and urge him on but he could not because he was confined in shackles in Rome. He therefore writes to Timothy to remind him of what had been invested in him.Paul points to a gift in Timothy that had the potential to empower him to face any challenges that arose in his life. His ignorance of this potential has caused him to neglect its maintenance and had left this gift smoldering to the point of being extinguished. Paul therefore warns him to stir the gift into flames that will set him ablaze with passion and zeal for his assignments. Timothy was fearful, discouraged and ashamed of the testimony of the gospel because his gift was not ablaze. His gift was flickering in the ashes of discouragement. However, if he sets his gift ablaze, all his negative emotions will be consumed in the blazing flame of this precious gift. His zeal will be energized torching any inhibitions to his mandate. Timothy had what it took to face his challenges but had done nothing because of his ignorance of what he had.
Most believers are ignorant that they have what it takes to confront daily challenges. They seek for help everywhere yet ignore the gifts in them. Ignorant of their gift potential, they fail to nurture, cultivate and utilize it. They rather succumb to the onslaught of their daily challenges. Their smoldering gifts have denied them of divine illumination and empowerment. We are numbed by our bills that leave us frozen in despair, bitten in our frosted immorality, we engage in our religious activities without passion because our gifts are not ablaze. We are distracted by our daily pursuits and we neglect to fan into flames our gifts that will illuminate our path with divine counsel.
When our gifts are neglected we become easily susceptible to the infestation of the enemy. We then act out its erratic symptoms. How many believers are plagued with cold symptoms of discouragement, numbed with fear, and frozen by debt. Our light is so dimmed with iniquity that we have succumbed to the invasion of darkness. It is time we rekindle our gift and be set ablaze with passion for our divine commission.
After Paul had diagnosed the spiritual coldness of Timothy, he dispenses the remedy for his ailment. Paul offers the resources Timothy will need to rekindle his faith. He reminds him of the faith of his mother and grandmother and asserts that he had such potential faith because of his relation with them. Moreover he had received the impartation needed for his commission. He needed to be reminded of who he was so he can come to the awareness of his potential. That will decimate his frustration and energize him to discipline. Knowing that he had what it takes to confront every opposition and emotional turmoil will encourage him to act.
Knowing his potential will also give him what it will take to energize it for his benefit . Having been made aware of his potential he was responsible to set it ablaze to thaw any cold dilemma that had left him frozen in his endeavor.
When we know what we possess it will help to know what is necessary to feed it, what will take to energize it and the spiritual regiment to discipline it into excellence. We must know the right spiritual component to incinerate our potential into spiritual fervor. When we get this then it is our responsibility to set ourselves ablaze.
Many of our spiritual problems can be traced to our spiritual coldness. It is about time to utilize all the resources at our disposal to ignite the gift of God in us into a bonfire of revival that consume every opposition of the enemy.
We will need to read the scriptures and meditate, fast and pray, fellowship with the saints and walk in holiness. When we do, we will keep the fire burning and keep iniquity at bay from our lives. It is time to be set ablaze for Christ.
