No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)
“I want to be baptized.” Thin, African, Nhamo kept his eyes on the ground as he held out the grain and cloth used in witchcraft. “I repent from ancestor worship.”
We baptized him in the lake, and decided to burn his talismans on the spot. But no one had matches, only the motorcar’s cigarette lighter. My friends searched out dried cow dung, pressed it against the red metal coils, and blew.
“Next time my mother lights a cigarette,” the owner of the car said, “don’t tell her what we used this for.”
Smoke gave way to embers, which popped into flame. We added dry grass, then the charms and fetishes burned to ash.
Three elements are necessary for fire—heat, fuel, and oxygen. Remove one, and you’ll never get combustion.
There are three similar elements necessary for spiritual fire—hunger, truth, and the Holy Spirit. When these elements combine, holy fire ignites.
Sometimes I want to shake people until they show a sign of spiritual interest. I ignore what Jesus demonstrated. When faced with the waywardness in others, he tossed a parable of truth into the firebox and walked away, knowing the real work would be completed in the hours that followed. The third element—the oxygen of God’s call—would blow on hunger and truth until they burst into flame.
The Son of Man rested in the Spirit’s work to draw folks. He carried a cute story about fertile soil, a lost coin, or a wayward son—like a grenade—into the heart. Then he left the Spirit to pull the pin.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, forgive my pride in thinking I convert others.