1 Thess 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is often portrayed as fire and it is interesting that Paul used the word “quench” in this verse. To quench in the Greek is abennumi; to extinguish or go out. In contrast, look how Paul gave direction to Timothy:
2 Tim 1:6 I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up (kindle up or cause to burn) the gift of God.
Anything that cools or dampens the Spirit within us is rightfully referred to as quenching the Spirit. Look at what Albert Barnes said about what quenches the Spirit: “Neglect of cultivating the Christian graces, or of prayer, of the Bible, of the sanctuary, of a careful watchfulness over the heart, will do it. Worldliness, vanity, levity, ambition, pride, the love of dress, or indulgence in an improper train of thought, will do it.”
We quench Him when we deny or resist His gifts or His working in our lives. We often do this in ignorance of the manifestations of the Spirit and the operation of His gifts. The fire goes out and is not rekindled. The same thing happens when we fail to wait on His timing or for His Word. We need to slow down and live more in the spiritual realm. It is not only possible but it is the very Will of God that we live in the spirit 24 hours a day. This doesn’t mean that we are on some weird spiritual high; rather we are so in tune with the Holy Spirit that we hear His every word. I have experienced those days and how different they are from the ones that I have chosen to control. The difference is how we start our day and the attention we give to the fire that burns within us. Do we watch it and tend it throughout the day or do we throw a bucket of water on it before we go to work or sometime during the day? Or, worse yet, do we fail to rekindle it from when we let it go out: yesterday, last week, last month or last year?
For a number of years Diane and I lived in the mountains in a cabin that had no central heat. Our main source of heat was a huge fireplace that heated the den, dining room, and kitchen. But the bedroom and bathroom … let’s just say they weren’t always warm. In the wintertime we kept a bed of coals in that fireplace 24 hours a day. The first thing every morning I would stir up those coals and add new logs to heat up the house once again.
The Spirit is just like that. He is a bed of hot coals just waiting to be stirred up in your fireplace in the morning. Put on a few logs of Praise, Prayer, and the Word and get rid of the world’s chill. But just like in that little cabin, you need to add more “spiritual logs” throughout the day or the flames will burn down. As Paul said: Eph 5:18 … but be filled (pleroo – be being filled) with the Spirit.