It Only Takes a Spark...

It only takes a spark…

That song came to my mind tonight when I tried to ‘get a fire going’ in our woodstove. You’d think I’d have it figured out by now, since this is our third winter here, but I’m still having trouble.

If I catch it before the fire has completely gone out, I’m fine. I pile on a few more logs, and soon it starts to roar. But today was so warm, I didn’t notice the fire had gone out, and by the time the house cooled off enough to notice, there was not an ember in sight.

As I struggled to coax a flame, I started humming…

It only takes a spark to get a fire going…

And soon all those around will warm up in its glowing;

Oh that sounded good – to warm up in its glowing. I started to think about hot chocolate…

That's how it is with God's love,

Once you've experienced it,

You spread the love to everyone

You want to pass it on

I guess I hadn’t really thought much about those lyrics before. In fact, it’s been years since I sang that song.

Way back in the 70’s, I remember groups of kids sitting around a campfire, singing it. We were so young, and God’s love was very real. We really did want to ‘pass it on’.

The years went by, and life got busy, and as I raced through it, I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about those things that really matter most…

I wonder what ever happened to some of those kids?...

I wonder what happened to me?...

Well, the fire did get going, and I did warm up in its glowing. And as I paused to enjoy the warmth, I thought about that line, “you want to pass it on.”

I Corinthians 13 is such a great passage. It closes with verse 13:

And now these three remain:

faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.


“Father, help us not to keep Your love to ourselves.
But to pass it on to all who cross our path this day.
Through word or deed, may others know Your love as we pass it on.”