Fire by its very nature spreads. A fire that is not spreading will go out. In the same way, a Christian that is not spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, will begin to cool down and eventually go out.
Fire spreads
When I was nine years old I saw a house on fire. With bells clanging and sirens screaming, firemen quickly pulled up in front of the house. After they unrolled their hoses they did something very interesting. They did not squirt water at the burning house right away. First, they used the hoses to wet down other houses.
I remember thinking, “Why are they squirting water on those houses? They are not on fire!” I concluded that the firemen were really dumb.
Later on I discovered that the firemen had a good reason for what they had done. Firemen wet down buildings that are not on fire to prevent the fire from spreading! First they contain the fire, then they put it out. The last thing firefighters want is an out of control wildfire!
The last thing Satan wants is an out of control wildfire! The fire inside of a Christian is actually controlled by the Holy Spirit. It only appears to be uncontrollable to Satan, because he can not control it. Satan tries to contain the fire by preventing its spread to other people. He seeks to quench the fire of God inside your heart. However, if he can not put out the fire inside of you, he will do everything in his power to keep the fire from spreading to other people. Satan does not want the fire of God to spread.
The devil prevents the spread of God’s fire by isolating Christians who have tapped into God’s supernatural power. This occurs when he cuts them off by building walls around them. Just like the firemen will first make sure that none of the houses around a fire catch on fire, Satan will begin to attack the people near the Christian who is on fire.
It is our responsibility to spread God’s fire to the people around us. Once we are filled with a burning desire to know God better, we need to look for a way to spread the fire. We have been blessed with God’s fire so we can be a blessing to others. We do not want a little camp fire that will only warm us. No! We want a raging forest fire that will be a shining light that draws people irresistibly to God.
