Do you ever read the signatures that people include with their emails? I do. If you include a quote or Scripture verse, I’ll read it. If you include a Scripture reference but don’t write out the verse, I’ll probably look it up. If you list a blog or website, I just might pop by to see what it’s like.

I saw a new quote in another writer’s signature line this week that I loved. It’s a quote from John Wesley, the man who’s basically credited with founding the Methodist Church movement:

Catch on fire and people will come for miles to see you burn.

Isn’t that the truth?! Many of us are nosy and want to know what’s happening around us. If we see people getting all excited about something, we want to know what the big deal is. If everyone seems to be talking about a particular movie or book or TV show, we want to check it out ourselves. We want to be in the middle of — or at least on the fringes of — the attention.

But here’s the deal — as Christians, we want to be so on fire for God that people can’t help but see Him in us. We shouldn’t want them to see us, but to see God through us. It’s easy to say, but hard to do. We want to be different like God wants us to be, but we want to be different in the cool way that makes people want to get to know us better, not the weird way that drives them in the other direction.

Is our fire for God big enough to catch people’s attention and make them come see what’s happening with us? Is it flickering flame that dances and almost goes out with every little change around us? Or is it just the smoldering embers of the torch we used to carry in our hearts for God but that got doused along the way?

Some days I’m discouraged and feel burned out. Some days I’m OK, but know I’m not as strong and faithful as I should be. But on other days — the best days – I’m on fire for God, loving Him and feeling Him whichever way I seem to turn. Eager to get to my Bible study time and to talk with Him. Not afraid to stand up for Him or share Him with others. Those are the days I want to have more of! And the best part is, I CAN if I only ask Him to help me with it. He wants us to spend time with Him, to talk with Him, to see Him everywhere in our day. We just need to ask Him for the desire to be that way, and the more we ask, the more we’ll see it coming true in us. What a gift!

So how about you? Are you burning bright enough for others to want to see what’s going on? And — more importantly — once they come near, what will they find you burning for?