A Wonderful Simile

Last Wednesday night Jesus showed me a wonderful simile. We were all standing around the grass circle in front of the chapel. Each of us held an unlit candle. My eyes were drawn irresistibly to the big spotlight machine in the center of our circle. I kept watching the beams of light as they circled and crossed. They continued to fascinate me as we began singing.

Then a married couple approached me. Stephanie, the person standing on my left, and I, scooted apart to let them into the circle. Both the husband and wife held a lit candle, flaring against the darkness. It dawned on me that I had been chosen as next in line to start spreading the flame from lit candle to unlit one. I felt honored.

I carefully held my wick to his flame, waiting for it to begin burning. Then, just as carefully, I offered my newly lit candle to Eric, standing to my right. My part in the process done, I turned my eyes back to the large light beams in the center of the circle.

But not for long! Eric had carelessly let his candle go out. I gladly held my bright flame to his wick again. But in bringing my candle back in front of me, a stray gust of wind almost blew mine out! I quickly cupped my hand around the flame, warding off any more wandering breezes.

This, however, proved more difficult than it sounded. The night suddenly seemed filled with eddies of wind, fluttering this way and that. Every time I attempted to watch the light beams, I would have to quickly look back down at my own flame. In fact, I realized that I had to give up almost all other outside activities to guard the flame.

At this moment I was given a wonderful word-picture for our life with Christ. I had to focus solely on my flame just to keep it burning. In the same way, we each have been given one task, one responsibility to keep our flame burning. And that is to focus on Jesus as the only thing in our lives. Not that we don’t do other things! But that everything we do is for the purpose of knowing Christ more intimately.

Whether I am attending class, writing a paper, or enjoying recreation, the ultimate goal is spending that time learning from and about different aspects of God. Only in knowing God more intimately each day will I truly allow my flame to burn in the way it was created to.