Yesterday's Fire is Today's Ashes

Some of our discussion this morning in our men's group centered around our daily walk with God. We reminded one another that we should be persistent in daily spiritual disciplines such as reading scripture, prayer, journaling, & etc. Not for the sake of gaining more knowledge, but for the sake of knowing & loving God. Through our daily time spent focusing on God, we position ourselves to receive His grace. This led me to a portion of Scripture:

"Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Command Aaron & his sons, saying, 'This is the law for the burnt offering: the burnt offering itself shall remain on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, & the fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it. 'The priest is to put on his linen robe, & he shall put on undergarments next to his flesh, & he shall take up the ashes to which the fire reduces the burnt offering on the altar & place them beside the altar. 'Then he shall take off his garments & put on other garments, & carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 'The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out, but the priest shall burn wood on it every morning; & he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, & offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings on it. 'Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out." - Leviticus 6:8-13

Without discussing the background & historical aspects of this text, I simply would like to point out how it inspired me today. 

Did you see how intentional the priest had to be in order to fulfill his daily responsibility? The point is this: Without daily cultivation, our relationship with the Lord can be reduced to fond memories of yesterday. Yesterday's raging fire is simply today's ashes. And, lets face it, if we do not intentionally schedule time to spend with God, it will never organically see itself into our daily routine. We must not only prioritize our schedule, we must schedule our priorities. I don't know about you, but I surely don't want to find myself living off of yesterday's memories. Today, hope in God.