Let the OIL do the BURNING

When I was a boy, they had beautiful kerosene lamps in every home. They had lovely glass bowls for the oil, so you could see their wicks and the level of the oil and knew when to replenish them.

        The lamp burned best when full of oil. When the level got low, too much of the wick would be out of the oil and it was no longer soaked. Then the wick itself would begin to burn, and the lamp would give off smoke.

        We sometimes try too hard, work too hard, and try to do everything ourselves. We need to learn to save the first place in our hearts and lives and time for Jesus.

        We belong to Him first of all, and the first place must belong to Him-for rest and prayer and fellowship with Jesus, and for feeding from His Word.

        We cannot do the Master’s work without the Master’s power-and to get it, we must spend time with the Master in His Word. Then HE does the work through us.

        Many people give their needs and problems to the Lord in prayer, but then turn around and try to meet those needs and solve those problems on their own, without depending on the Lord to work on their behalf.

We ought to take a lesson from the oil lamp: It must be the oil that burns and not the wick, for if the wick burns without oil, it will BURN itself. We must immerse ourselves in Jesus and let Him burn to light the way, because if we try to do that ourselves, we’ll soon BURN OUT.

        The flame of the lamp burns so beautifully and brightly and clearly when the OIL burns, but it gets smoky and stinky when just the wick burns. The lamp’s wick must be deeply immersed in the oil. Otherwise it produces smoke which dirties up the glass and you can hardly see the flame. Too much self effort makes it difficult for others to see God’s light.

Most of the wick must be soaked in the oil, and only a tiny tip of it is exposed to the air and the flame. That way, it’s mostly oil that burns and very little of the wick-almost none. The oil flows freely through a wick that is deeply soaked in the oil. Then it is the oil that burns and not the wick, and it gives bright, pure, clear light.

        “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). It is not I that burn, but Christ must burn within me. You can be a beautiful wick, but you’ll burn black with too little oil. You must soak yourself in the oil, so you burn not, but He burns through you. Then you’ll give pure light, smokeless light, clear light, beautiful light to all that are in the house (Matthew 5:15-16).

        So let’s stop trying to do the work in our own strength, and let’s let God do it. Let go and let God! Just let the Lord through. Let the oil burn. Let the Lord do it!

David B.B.