The first novel I ever began reading to my classes when I taught JRH Reading years ago was ‘Hatchet’, by Gary Paulsen. I was captivated by that story and to this day, I still have former students come up to me and mention that book and how they still remember it. If you are not familiar with the story, it is about a 13 year old boy who is being flown up to spend the summer with his dad in the oil fields of Canada. The pilot of the small plane has a heart attack and the plane goes down crashing into a lake far from civilization. Brian, the young boy, manages to crawl out of the plane before it sinks and makes it to dry land. The story centers around his survival and eventual rescue. The only thing he has with him, is a small hatchet strapped to his belt that was given as a gift to him by his mother. 

 There is a pivotal point in the story, where he discovers by a fluke and a dream, how to start a fire using his only tool. It is a painstaking effort to create the ideal setting for that initial spark to ignite and cause his ‘nest’ to burst into flame from the spark. Having a fire changes his whole outlook for a host of legitimate reasons. And one of the first lessons he learns from that is the dire importance of keeping that fire going...fanning the flame and keeping it fed. It will require dedicated effort to keep that wood supply readily available. It literally could be life or death for him if he was to fail in this endeavor. 

 Which leads me to ask you this: 

 How many times...in your Christian walk or faith experience...has God graciously ignited a ‘spark’ within you that you can look back and point to as a life-changing encounter with your Creator...yet as happens with so many of us...we let the ‘fire die out’. (Rev. 2:4) 

 Why is that? And why would God be so inclined to ‘re-ignite’...such a spark and fire...if we have demonstrated an unwillingness in the past to ‘do our part’ - to ‘fan the flames’ and keep it going? (2 Tim. 1:6) 

 I use the word ‘unwillingness’ because Jesus uses it a couple of times when speaking to others who seem to be interested in seeking true eternal life, but are not willing to ‘come to Him that they might have life’. (John 5:40; Matt. 23:37). He was often pointing out those who ‘honor Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him’. (Matt. 15:8). Paul spoke of those who would ‘profess to know Him, but by their actions would deny Him’. (Tit. 1:16) 

 Jesus turned to one group and asked them point blank: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) 

 One of the challenges we encounter today is where we can produce a lot of religious activity and busyness and assume we can ‘get by’ with that without having to totally surrender to His Lordship. Jesus makes that rather clear in Matt. 7:21-23 where He warns us of a day when ‘many will come’ rattling off their resumé of spiritual accomplishments; and while they may have said ‘Lord, Lord’ at some point, they fell short of ‘doing the will of God’ and were shut out of His presence for continuing to ‘practice lawlessness’...which is sin. Sin, is breaking the commandments of God. And we are continually being told from pulpits everywhere we will remain sinners and never cease from sinning. (Where exactly in the bible does it say that, if you don't mind me asking?)

 There is no telling if my post yesterday resonated with any of you; but I would suspect that there is no shortage of sincere, yet defeated and ‘lukewarm’ believers who could identify with it. I also mentioned something about this ‘event’ that is catching the attention of people everywhere that began at Asbury Christian College in Kentucky where there seems to be an ‘outpouring’ or ‘revival’ taking place there. I’ve been around long enough now to know not to jump on every bandwagon that rolls in to town or church given the warnings that Jesus gave us in Matt. 24. But I’ve been watching and reading up on this occurrence and there seems to be some good ‘fruit’ coming out of it. Time will tell...and I am not the ‘official judge’ of it either. But we are told to ‘try the spirits’ and ‘test all things’. "By their fruit...."

 I only bring this up because there is a hunger and longing , I believe, for many people out there to experience a genuine encounter, with God. People don’t need more ‘religion’...they need a life changing ‘spark’ to breath life into them and make them a new creation which we are told...is available to anyone who believes and calls on the name of the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 10:13). And it's not about just 'saying some words', either.

 But if you call...and He answers...are you ready and prepared to respond...accordingly? 

 This is where I think we continue to ‘drop the ball’ time after time again and we let that flame die out. 

 God does not pour out His Spirit simply to make us feel good and warm and fuzzy and shed a few tears as we settle back into our old ways and talk about how good God is because of what He did. He pours out His Spirit and calls us out of darkness to walk in His marvelous light. (John 5:25-29; 12:35-36; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 John 2:6-7) 

 Oh...did you see that? - where in order to receive forgiveness of sins and cleansing from His blood...we have to ‘walk in the light as He is in the light’. That’s one of those ‘small details’ we tend to overlook at times. 

 So just what if...God was to ‘awaken you’...or ‘rekindle a fire’ within and call you out of that dark, stench-filled tomb like He did Lazarus...and me, for that matter (as I have shared what happened to me nearly three years ago). Are you ready...willing....and prepared...to respond accordingly? It might be a good idea to give this consideration and ‘count the cost’ as Jesus admonishes us to do. (Luke 14:25-33). 

 In Mark 10, we read an inspiring and yet, insightful story about how Jesus came to Jericho. We are told that as He walked through with His disciples, there was a great multitude as well. But it was ‘blind Bartimaeus’ who is singled out by name. (46). He is the only one we read of who ‘cried out’ when he realized who was passing by.  Do you know what the crowd around him admonished him to do when he began crying out? They tried to hush him and tell him to be quiet. Then, Bartimaeus ‘cried out all the more’. (48) 

 Now catch this: “So Jesus stood still and commanded him (Bartimaeus) to be called”. (49) 

 It’s easy to skip through vs. 50 where we are told he ‘threw aside his garment’ while rising up to come to Jesus, but it’s important to address the significance of his garment he cast aside. The short version here is, that garment represented not only Bartimaeus’s (likely) most valuable possession, but it also represented his identity. He was a blind beggar and people recognized him as that by his garment, in part. I’ve been told it was akin to a ‘handicap tag’ that we see on cars these days. But the mere fact that he cast it aside signifies that he was done living the only way he had known to live. This was his moment and he was not going to let it slip away from him...so he cried out. And Jesus heard him...and stood still and bid him to come to Him.  Bartimaeus ...was not only...willing, to come to Jesus.  He was eager and ready to come.

 Jesus has never ceased from inviting us to ...come to Him. And as you can assume, if you don't already know this story, Bartimaeus had his eyes opened and received his sight. He had an ‘awakening’...and the light of God’s grace and mercy shone into his world of darkness and transformed him...’immediately’. Please underline that word – ‘immediately’, if you would please. But let’s not stop here, which sadly...many do. We get that ‘touch’, that ‘blessing’, that ‘answered prayer’...and then we run off full of joy and contentment telling ourselves that God does indeed love us and we can resume life as normal again. I recall a story where ten lepers did that as well. (Luke 17:11-19)  Only one, of the ten returned...and 'came to Jesus'.

 But not so with Bartimaeus. Look what it says there in vs. 52...he ‘followed Jesus on the road’. 

 Do you want to continue in His grace and mercy? You need to follow Him. 

 Do you want to ‘hear His voice and be known by Him’? You need to follow Him. (John 10:27) 

 Do you want to ‘lie down in green pastures and sit beside the still waters’ (as in experience true peace and rest) ? You need to follow Him. (Ps. 23:3) 

 You have to be willing to ‘lay down your life’ and everything that is ‘not like Him’ (as in your old, sinful nature). There will be a ‘cross’ involved and His Spirit will lead you to pick it up so that you too...can ‘die’ as He died. Your death will not be ‘physical’ and gruesome like His was. But there will be ‘suffering’ as you ‘abstain’ from all evil temptations, empowered by His grace as you ‘resist the devil’ and put to death all the deeds of the flesh. (Rom. 8:13) 

 This....is why so many let that flame die out. People begin to discover there are things in their life...buried in their hearts...their ‘idols’ that they are reluctant to let go of and repent from. The rich young ruler in Matt. 19 discovered that, and unlike Bartimaeus, chose not...to cast everything aside and follow Jesus. Perhaps this is the reason Jesus described this path as being ‘narrow’ and not many would want to travel it...despite being the ‘only way’ or the ‘only path’ that leads to true life. (Matt. 7:14) 

 Radical transformation is available to all....but let no one deceive you with empty words...it will require radical obedience to the One who will transform you. Are you hungering for a new spark and fire? Better have a hatchet handy...it will require a ‘cutting away’ of some things that the Holy Spirit will shine His light upon.   Here are your two options:  You either allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to cut, or prune those things from your life that need removed in order for good fruit to be produced (John 15:1-7), or...you will be destroyed as those who come 'wielding axes' (or hatchet's maybe?) begin cutting you down.  John the Baptist mentioned something about that. (Matt. 3:10-12; Ps. 74:4-8)

Go with the first option - Better to allow the 'vinedresser' to do that. But you can trust Him, I promise. ;-)