Proverbs 26:20

“Without wood a fire goes out.”

It is  a cold, snowy day here in Indiana.  So this verse is very fitting.  What a profound thought, without wood a fire goes out.  It may seem pretty basic, and without say, but the truth in this verse is deeper than we may think.  Many people wonder why their “fire” is going out in life.  They wonder why they lose motivation, or lose their passion.  But the truth is very simple, if you don’t add fuel, or in this case wood to your fire it WILL go out.  We can’t expect to pour any thing out in our life if we are not pouring something into it.  We can only give what we have.  If you aren’t filling yourself you have nothing to pour out.  If you are not spending time investing into yourself you will have no productivity in your life.  We have to keep adding wood for the fire to continue to burn.

People get burned out when they stop adding wood to their fire.  They eventually burn out to dust and ashes.  It is MUCH harder to start a fire than it is to simply add wood on a regular basis to keep the fire going.  Fires do not last forever without managing it and adding to it.  If you are not adding value to yourself then you will eventually run out of things to add value to.

Life is not automatic.  Their is no auto-pilot for living.  It takes intentional, strategic, hard work, and dedication to achieve greatness.  So what are you doing on a daily basis to add wood to your fire? What is your plan to keep your fire burning? If you have no plan than I can guarantee you that your fire WILL go out at some point.  Maybe it is burning bright now, and you are tempted to stop adding wood.  Maybe you think you can sit back and just watch it burn.  Well, I would warn you to be careful, because it is easy to fall asleep next to a warm fire and snuggle up with laziness.  Keep the fire burning bright in your life.

My challenge for us today is to think of 2-3 pieces of wood that you are going to add everyday to your fire.  It will be different for everyone, but choose the 2-3 things you can do for your fire to stay hot.  Then make it a discipline to add this wood to your daily routine everyday.  Maybe it is reading, maybe it is prayer, maybe it is exercising, etc… What are your pieces of wood?