VFD

Do you know what VFD stands for? Vacuum Fluorescent Display, Variable-Frequency Drive, Virtual Floppy Disk, Victory For Dummies? Most of us know the VFD generally refers to a Volunteer Fire Department. Which, according to Wikipedia is a fire department composed of volunteers.

Thank you captain obvious.

Did you know that in the U.S. approximately 71% of all fire department personnel are volunteers? These are non-paid people who sacrifice their lives to fight fires, provide EMT services, etc. Apparently Pasadena, TX has the largest VFD in the country. I have known several. My uncle was a member of the Kenova VFD, and actually participated on the call for the plane crash of the Marshall Football Team in 1970. While there are many lessons that can be learned from the people who comprise a VFD, this is not a PSA for VFDs (I love acronyms).

"Do not quench the Spirit." I Thessalonians 5:19

Quench - (kwench) verb - to put out or extinguish (fire, flames, etc.)

In Paul's 1st letter to the Christians at Thessalonica, he sees that these brothers and sisters have been living well.....most of the letter is an encouragement to continue doing well in Christ. In the final section, he adds some wonderful bits of wisdom. "Live in peace with one another", don't "pay back wrong for wrong", "hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil". He uses words like, "encourage", "help" and "be patient". He also tells them not to put out the fire of the Holy Spirit that is living in them. It is that fire that moves us further in our relationship with him. Whenever you hear of a marriage going bad, people often refer to going on a trip to stoke the fires of their relationship. To provide fuel, to make it grow....and once the fire has come back, the relationship is healing, getting stronger. Same thing with our relationship with God. Through our working with His work in us, we are drawn closer to Him.

The Scriptures are full of this type of advice:

"Come near to God and He will come near to you"
"Ask and it will be given to you"
"Seek and you will find"
"Knock and the door will be opened to you"

One thing I notice in this advice is our part of the equation. Christianity is not a passive thing. I will be the first to admit that I would love it if He, our God, took the reins and I just rode along....but it ain't like that. I am always reminded of the time that Jesus was in His own village and no one was healed because they did not believe. Yet, in another village, ALL of the sick were healed because they did believe and brought their sick to Him. What is the variable in this equation? Us. The power of God, that fire that can live strongly in us, is always there. Paul does not say, "Pray that God doesn't put out the fire", he says, "Don't YOU put out the fire".

I was thinking of this because of our conversation last night in youth. In our worship yesterday, people were feeling and seeing the glory of God. Yet, not everyone was seeing/feeling it. I have a friend who became a Christian later in life. After some moving services, someone would say, "God's presence was with us this morning". He would reply to himself, "Hmm, must have missed it" in a tone that was a bit sarcastic....as if everyone else was crazy because he didn't experience it. If you were to ask him now, he would tell you that the reason he missed it was because of him, not because of God. God's presence is all around us, He is waiting to set fire to you.

Are you being your own VFD? Are you putting out a fire that God lit? Are you purposefully, or unknowingly, setting up your relationship with God to fail?

Consider this a part 1 of 2, and let's talk about what we can do to make our lives ready to be on fire for God. Is not a cliche that people use, its not some "superchristian" type thing that most of us will never be about. Its about dropping what is holding us back.