Friday 28th
2 Timothy 1:6
NIV – ‘For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.’
ESV – ‘Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.’
‘O thou who camest from above.’
Charles Wesley – RH 546
It would be impossible for me to not consider this hymn as it is the one hymn that has probably influenced me the most as I have traversed through life.
From as early as I can remember this hymn has been the deep and sincere prayer from my heart. I could never sing it as a teenager without it bringing a deep sense of conviction in my life concerning the will and the purpose of God, asking that the desires of my heart would be good and godly desires, desires that would be centred around the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2—‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’)
The hymn starts off with a prayer asking God to kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of our hearts, it is a prayer of consecration, a prayer expressing a desire to sanctify our lives to the will of God, and once the flame of sacred love for God and the things of God has been kindled, for it to burn with inextinguishable blaze, that we may continually return to its source in humble prayer and fervent praise. It is all about having firstly a deep love for God and for the things of God.
Verse three of the song is a prayer from the heart of an individual to be aligned to the will of God, to be willing to work and think and speak for him and a prayer that the flame will continue to burn, that the gifts that have been implanted within us by the Spirit of God will be stirred up. It is possible that we can become slack, or lukewarm in our love for God, for the things of God and in our service for God and we need to keep close to him, and continually allow the draught of the Holy Spirit to blow in our lives to keep the flame alight. Then in the final verse there is a declaration of commitment and obedience toward the will of God, ‘Ready for all thy perfect will, my acts of faith and love repeat, till death thy endless mercies seal, and make the sacrifice complete’ it is a prayer that speaks of total surrender to the will of God.
It is in Isaiah 6 we read the account of Isaiah and his vision of the Lord. I often think of this account with this hymn, for I like to think that this was the moment where the flame of sacred fire was lit on the mean altar of his heart, in verse 8 we read ‘Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then said I, ‘Here am I; send me’.’ He made himself ready for all the perfect will of God. For Moses I see the moment of the sacred fire being lit on the mean altar of his heart as he met with God by the bush that burned with fire but was not consumed, and as God called and commissioned him, he became a man who also was ready for all God’s perfect will.
God has a plan, his will and purpose for every one of us, the challenge to bring to each one of us from the use of this hymn is this, have we allowed the flame of sacred love to be kindled upon the mean altar of our hearts, do we allow it to burn with inextinguishable blaze, are our desires such that we want to be working, speaking, and thinking for Jesus, are we ready for all his perfect will?
Taking the text that the hymnal compilers have used, maybe there is someone reading this who needs to fan into flame again the gift of God. May God help us all to remain in that place or position which is the centre of his will.
O thou who camest from above,
The pure celestial fire to impart,
Kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my heart!
There let it for thy glory burn
With inextinguishable blaze;
And trembling to its source return,
In humble prayer and fervent praise.
Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire
To work and speak and think for thee;
Still let me guard the holy fire,
And still stir up thy gift in me.
Ready for all thy perfect will,
My acts of faith and love repeat,
‘Til death thy endless mercies seal,
And make my sacrifice complete.