Stir Up

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To stir is an emotional agitation and excitement. In the Bible Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ while mentoring Timothy reminded him ‘Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands’. 1Tim 1.6 NKJV, Stir up the gift also appears in the King James Version of this verse, but other translations read “fan into flames the gift” (ESV, NIV, NLT), “keep ablaze the gift” (HCSB), and “rekindle the gift” (CSB, NRSV).

Paul wrote 2 Timothy from prison while awaiting his execution. He only had a short time left before his death, so he penned this profoundly personal letter full of intense affection and concern for his beloved companion and disciple.

Each one of us has a particular purpose over and above the common purpose to preach the gospel and make disciples. We all have the gifts of God upon our lives. Now more than ever we need to take hold of the truth that God already gifted us to walk in that purpose. The embers are within us. We need only to stir them up into a pure flame.

There is no doubt that the world needs Jesus now more than ever. In a time of declining morals and increasing depravity, when God is reviled and scorned and the person of Jesus mocked and rejected, we as His body need to stir ourselves and find the passion and zeal to live out our purpose.

There is someone out there who needs the gift that God has placed within us. We have been raised up and sent out specifically to meet that need, but we must stir up the gift within us and begin to walk in the calling of God on our lives.

We need to find our first love and stir up the dormant gift within us. How can it be done? If we are to have our own useful role in the church of God, and not be a useless redundant member, and not be a parasite in the body of Christ there are actions we have to take. Some of the ways in which the gift we have is to be fanned into flame.

Be Diligent.
Paul is telling us that the Christian must be diligent in fanning into flame the gift he has from God. Feed the gift with the word of God. Nothing will keep us as burning and shining lights without the Scriptures. We’ve got to fall in love with the Bible, and learn to search it, and ransack it, and hunger and thirst for the truth in the preaching of the gospel. You discuss it among yourselves, and meditate upon it, and think about the Christian faith from every point of view.

We are to be diligent in seeking the face of God. Our great concern is to be like God, conformed more and more closely to him. The only way to secure that is to be in fellowship with God, seeking his face at the throne of grace, seeking out the companions and gatherings in which he has promised to be present.

Again we are to be diligent in stirring up the gift by using it – every day, in small ways, being obedient to the prompting of the Spirit. No matter what it is, it has a divine purpose, and it’s only in using it that His purpose is outworked in us and in the world around us. Constant obedience is the key, stepping out in faith even when the results aren’t apparent or large. The more we use it, the more our zeal will grow. God Himself will honour what we begin to use for His glory.

Now that is more important to stirring up the gift of God than we realise. We must trust what God says about his measureless love for us, that he has adopted us into his family, that everything is working for our good and that we are going to a place he has prepared for us. We bask in the sunshine of his favor. We are sure of our calling and election. I think it is devastating for the spiritual life to doubt whether God loves us. Be diligent in maintaining the certainty of your salvation.

Draw near to Him today. There is someone who needs what God placed in you, and He will give you the courage, strength, and passion to walk in your calling, whatever it might be.

Lord, Stir up the gift in each of us, and the passion to live it completely and fulfill Your purpose on the earth.