Franklin Stove

In 1979 Kathy and I bought our first house.  It was three bedrooms with 960 square feet of floor space.  It had ceiling electric heat, but only one room worked.  So, the first thing that I did was to buy a Franklin stove.  It heated the main room quite well, but it was not airtight.  By three in the morning, the fire had burned out and the house was ice cold.  I would get up early and start a fire.  One by one, the children would come in to warm up.  But before I started the morning’s fire, I had to remove the ashes.  If I didn’t, the ashes would begin to pile up blocking the vent holes in the bottom of the iron doors, and the fire couldn’t burn.  Pastor Jamie preached a message last evening on the dangers of past successes.  How often do we live in the past and rest upon past successes?  But yesterday’s successes are only the ashes that block our progress for today.  Today’s challenges need fresh firewood, not cold ashes.  Jesus warned the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1, “… I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”  The church in Sardis HAD a reputation but Jesus said, it IS dead.  What an indictment!  Hey, are we resting on our successes of yesterday?  Are our past successes smothering today’s progress?  If so, clean out those ashes of past success and meet the fresh challenges of today.  Let the dear Lord use you in a new way today.  Be a blessing to someone … today!