Still Burning | Run Free, Part 10
Key Truth | The faith we pass to the next generation is shaped not only by what we believe, but by what our lives consistently make room for.
Key Scripture | “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” — Hebrews 12:28–29 (NKJV)
Hebrews 12 begins with a race and ends with a fire.
Throughout this chapter we have talked about laying down weights, healing wounds, enduring what God has called us to carry, remaining teachable, strengthening what has become weak, and trusting God when things change.
But the chapter ends with worship.
“For our God is a consuming fire.”
After 40 years, that picture means something to me. I am incredibly grateful for our history, but I don’t want us simply preserving what God did yesterday. I want the fire to still be burning in us today.
We don’t need to preserve the ashes of yesterday’s fire. We need to keep the fire burning.
That has become personal for me in this season.
As God has been asking me to lay things down, I have realized He is not asking me to become less passionate. He is helping me distinguish between what consumes my energy and what actually feeds the fire He placed within me.
I still want to dream. I still want to believe God for things larger than I can accomplish. I want to worship without reservation, hear His voice, obey when He speaks, and spend my life helping people encounter Jesus.
Running free doesn’t mean caring less. It means becoming free to give myself more fully to what matters most.
And that raises an important question:
What do my priorities say I actually believe about God?
I recently heard a pastor say, “Our children don’t inherit our beliefs; they inherit our priorities.”
That stayed with me.
We can tell the next generation that God is first, but they are watching what receives the first of our time, attention, energy, and affection. They are learning what matters to us not only from what we say, but from what we consistently make room for.
Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Our priorities reveal our treasure.
Do our lives say we believe His presence is worth pursuing? That worship matters? That prayer changes things? That people are worth loving? That obedience is worth the cost? That the Kingdom of God is worthy of our lives?
Those questions matter because we are handing something to another generation right now.
Forty years from now, they may worship in buildings we never saw and use methods we never imagined. They will face challenges we never faced and carry assignments God never gave us.
They do not need to inherit our methods. They need to inherit our fire. They need our faith without our fears, our wisdom without our offenses, and our testimony without feeling obligated to recreate our story. We should give them roots deep enough to know who they are and freedom enough to follow God into places we have never been.
But we cannot hand them a priority we never lived.
If we want them to hunger for God, they need to see us hunger for God. If we want them to worship unashamedly and uninhibited, they need to see us worship that way. If we want them to trust the Holy Spirit, they need to see us depending upon Him. If we want them to live generously and courageously, they need to see that faith cost us something too.
The greatest evidence of what we believe about God may not be what we say about Him, but what we consistently make room for because of Him.
And some of what we make room for now may bear fruit long after our part of the race is finished.
There are dreams God gives one generation that another generation will see become reality. There are prayers we are praying now whose answers may belong to our children and grandchildren. There are seeds we are planting beneath trees we may never sit under.
That doesn’t diminish our part in the story. It makes our part sacred.
Hebrews says we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. That Kingdom was here before us, it will remain after us, and for this moment we have been entrusted with carrying it faithfully to another generation.
So after 40 years, we keep running.
Not trying to make the next generation run our race, but determined to run ours well enough that they receive something worth carrying.
And perhaps the question we should leave with is this:
If the next generation built their relationship with God around the priorities they see in us, what kind of faith would they inherit?
May they inherit more than what we built.
May they inherit a living faith.
And may the fire burn even brighter in them than it did in us.
Reflection
Prayer | Father, thank You for every mile of the race You have brought us through and for every person who prayed, gave, served, sacrificed and believed so that we could stand where we stand today.
Search my priorities and show me what they reveal about what I truly value. Help me order my life around what matters to You. Keep my heart tender, my faith strong and my passion for You alive.
As a church, help us live the faith we want the next generation to inherit. Let them see in us a people who pray, worship, love, give, obey and follow You with their whole hearts.
Give them our faith without our fears, our wisdom without our offenses, and deep roots without unnecessary limitations. May they see dreams fulfilled that we only prayed about and carry Your Kingdom into places we never imagined.
Forty years from now, may the fire still be burning—and may it burn even brighter in them. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Additional Scripture
Hebrews 12:28–29 — Our God is a consuming fire
Matthew 6:19–21, 33 — Our treasure, our heart and seeking first the Kingdom
Deuteronomy 6:4–9 — Living our faith before the next generation
Psalm 145:4 — One generation declaring God’s works to another
Acts 2:17–18 — The Spirit poured out across generations
2 Timothy 1:5–6 — Faith passed from one generation to another
Leviticus 6:12–13 — Keeping the fire burning
Key Scripture | “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” — Hebrews 12:28–29 (NKJV)
Hebrews 12 begins with a race and ends with a fire.
Throughout this chapter we have talked about laying down weights, healing wounds, enduring what God has called us to carry, remaining teachable, strengthening what has become weak, and trusting God when things change.
But the chapter ends with worship.
“For our God is a consuming fire.”
After 40 years, that picture means something to me. I am incredibly grateful for our history, but I don’t want us simply preserving what God did yesterday. I want the fire to still be burning in us today.
We don’t need to preserve the ashes of yesterday’s fire. We need to keep the fire burning.
That has become personal for me in this season.
As God has been asking me to lay things down, I have realized He is not asking me to become less passionate. He is helping me distinguish between what consumes my energy and what actually feeds the fire He placed within me.
I still want to dream. I still want to believe God for things larger than I can accomplish. I want to worship without reservation, hear His voice, obey when He speaks, and spend my life helping people encounter Jesus.
Running free doesn’t mean caring less. It means becoming free to give myself more fully to what matters most.
And that raises an important question:
What do my priorities say I actually believe about God?
I recently heard a pastor say, “Our children don’t inherit our beliefs; they inherit our priorities.”
That stayed with me.
We can tell the next generation that God is first, but they are watching what receives the first of our time, attention, energy, and affection. They are learning what matters to us not only from what we say, but from what we consistently make room for.
Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Our priorities reveal our treasure.
Do our lives say we believe His presence is worth pursuing? That worship matters? That prayer changes things? That people are worth loving? That obedience is worth the cost? That the Kingdom of God is worthy of our lives?
Those questions matter because we are handing something to another generation right now.
Forty years from now, they may worship in buildings we never saw and use methods we never imagined. They will face challenges we never faced and carry assignments God never gave us.
They do not need to inherit our methods. They need to inherit our fire. They need our faith without our fears, our wisdom without our offenses, and our testimony without feeling obligated to recreate our story. We should give them roots deep enough to know who they are and freedom enough to follow God into places we have never been.
But we cannot hand them a priority we never lived.
If we want them to hunger for God, they need to see us hunger for God. If we want them to worship unashamedly and uninhibited, they need to see us worship that way. If we want them to trust the Holy Spirit, they need to see us depending upon Him. If we want them to live generously and courageously, they need to see that faith cost us something too.
The greatest evidence of what we believe about God may not be what we say about Him, but what we consistently make room for because of Him.
And some of what we make room for now may bear fruit long after our part of the race is finished.
There are dreams God gives one generation that another generation will see become reality. There are prayers we are praying now whose answers may belong to our children and grandchildren. There are seeds we are planting beneath trees we may never sit under.
That doesn’t diminish our part in the story. It makes our part sacred.
Hebrews says we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. That Kingdom was here before us, it will remain after us, and for this moment we have been entrusted with carrying it faithfully to another generation.
So after 40 years, we keep running.
Not trying to make the next generation run our race, but determined to run ours well enough that they receive something worth carrying.
And perhaps the question we should leave with is this:
If the next generation built their relationship with God around the priorities they see in us, what kind of faith would they inherit?
May they inherit more than what we built.
May they inherit a living faith.
And may the fire burn even brighter in them than it did in us.
Reflection
- What do your current priorities reveal about what you truly value most?
- If the next generation built their faith around what they see modeled in your life, what would they learn about following God?
Prayer | Father, thank You for every mile of the race You have brought us through and for every person who prayed, gave, served, sacrificed and believed so that we could stand where we stand today.
Search my priorities and show me what they reveal about what I truly value. Help me order my life around what matters to You. Keep my heart tender, my faith strong and my passion for You alive.
As a church, help us live the faith we want the next generation to inherit. Let them see in us a people who pray, worship, love, give, obey and follow You with their whole hearts.
Give them our faith without our fears, our wisdom without our offenses, and deep roots without unnecessary limitations. May they see dreams fulfilled that we only prayed about and carry Your Kingdom into places we never imagined.
Forty years from now, may the fire still be burning—and may it burn even brighter in them. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Additional Scripture
Hebrews 12:28–29 — Our God is a consuming fire
Matthew 6:19–21, 33 — Our treasure, our heart and seeking first the Kingdom
Deuteronomy 6:4–9 — Living our faith before the next generation
Psalm 145:4 — One generation declaring God’s works to another
Acts 2:17–18 — The Spirit poured out across generations
2 Timothy 1:5–6 — Faith passed from one generation to another
Leviticus 6:12–13 — Keeping the fire burning
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