Trimmed Wick

I usually have a candle burning in my kitchen.
A nice “kitchen-y” smell.
Banana Nut Bread, or my favorite…Country Store.

One thing you must always do before burning a jar candle is trim the wick.
Every time you light it…without fail.
Wick trimming makes your candle last longer.

When a candle burns, it creates a liquid wax pool on the top.
The fragrance of the candle actually evaporates out of the wax pool.
Failing to trim the wick produces a bigger wax pool and makes the candle burn faster.
Failing to trim the wick produces smoking and makes soot that turns the jar black.

A small wick produces a small flame but it is a steady flame.
It gives a lot of light consistently over time.
A tall wick produces a large flame but it dies out quickly.
The wax pool gets so large it douses the flame.

This is what the Lord says – He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and lay there never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick. Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:16-19)

God wanted His people to remember their deliverance from the Egyptians.
God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites went across on dry ground.
As miraculous as that was, God tells His people that He is doing new thing.

The new thing is not a way in the sea, but a way in the wilderness.
Streams in the desert.

How we need God’s streams in the desert!
How we need water in the wilderness!

I was talking to someone at the hair salon where I get my hair cut.
She told me that she will be going back to Africa with her husband.
They build and work with the people…doing whatever needs to be done.
We talked about dire need of water in so many parts of the world.

Our last trip made me so conscious of my water usage.
I turn the water off when I do the dishes, even as I lather my hands.
I don’t want to waste a drop….because I have seen too many people who have none.

We need clean water to live here on earth.
We need Living Water to live for eternity in heaven.

Where can I get this living water?…Jesus answered “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a stream of water welling up to eternal life.”
(John 4:11,13,14)

God’s streams in this wilderness place.
Water that brings Life.

To be able to give people clean water…to help them dig wells…is a privilege.
To be able to give people Living Water…to help them know Jesus…is a joy.
Life and Eternal Life.

We need Living Water that continuously flows.
We need washing with the Water of the Word.

This wilderness place we live in needs God’s streams in the desert.
Bring your thirst to God.
He is the only One who can quench it!
Only He can bring water out of the desert.
Only He can cause streams of Living Water to well up to eternal life.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13,14)

God’s new thing!
A way in the wilderness.
Life where there once was death.
A trimmed wick with a steady flame is not easily extinguished.