Time For A Revival

            A U.S. Lutheran bishop tells of visiting a parish church in California and finding a stirring red and orange banner on the wall. "Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!" it declared in words printed under a picture of a fire burning. The bishop was also interested in the sign directly underneath the banner that said, "Fire extinguisher."

            As Christians, how many times have we taken a fire extinguisher to the fire of the Holy Spirit?  Christians quench the Spirit for fear of offending someone, fear of being called a radical, fear of being ridiculed or an assortment of other excuses.  Christians are in a spiritual morass.  C S Lewis once stated that Christians are like wet dogs.  They go to church and get soaked in the Holy Spirit only to shake it off once they got outside.

            With the coming of the New Year, Christians need to have a revival.  Revival is not a bad term, nor should it only be associated with Charismatics and Pentecostals, but a term that must be in every Christian’s vocabulary.  Every Christian must experience revival.

            Where does this revival begin?  Here is one account of how revival begins:  A famous preacher was asked to hold a revival at a church.  Facing a packed sanctuary, he stares at the congregation for a couple minutes.  He asked if they have experienced revival in the last few minutes.  The congregation answered with a collective, “No.”  He stated, “That’s the problem with revivals, we expect them to come to us.”  He then drew a circle on the ground and stood in it, “Let the revival begin in this circle and go out from it.  Revival has to begin with our heart and move outwards.”

            While a church can hold revival meetings for a few weeks at a time, a Christian needs to have revival every day.  Christians need to renew their mind and focus daily, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect,” (Romans 12:2 NASB).  The “renewing of your mind” denotes a constant renewal.  It does not state “be transformed and once you renew your mind you can stop.”  It denotes a constant inspection and renewal.

            How would one go about a personal revival?  First is to pray.  Seek wisdom and guidance from our Heavenly Father.  All things must begin and end with prayer.  Without prayer, a Christian is a rudderless ship, swaying right and left, and rarely getting where they need to go.

            Second is to read the Bible.  Various polls have indicated a troubling trend, less than 5 percent of Christians read the Bible on a daily basis.  A vast majority of Christians read the Bible only once a week and that is when the Pastor states, “Let us open our Bibles to. . .”  The Bible is how God speaks to us today.  It is called the “Word of God” for a reason.  Because it contains the very words that God spoke to His people.  Spend time daily in His Word.

            Third is to act upon it.  Do not suppress the Holy Spirit.  Do not give excuses to quench the fire of the Holy Spirit.  Revival has to come from within and go out.  Every Christian needs to say, “Revival starts with me.”

            While a church can hold a revival meeting for a week, the effects of it; the spiritual uplifting, the emotional uplifting, the fellowship, will last a while, nevertheless, the effects will wear off.  However, having a personal revival every day, the effects will not wear off.  It is time for a revival, so put away the fire extinguisher.