Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Have you noticed any increases in wickedness lately? For some of us, the tidal movement of our culture toward evil is as obvious as the nose on your face—and is escalating at a pace faster than we would have expected. For the majority, however, it seems that the change is so subtle and slow that they don’t even notice anything amiss—maybe even regard it as progress. Hence, many are proud to call themselves “progressives”—as though they are the refined and enlightened reformers of society who finally, after all these millennia of ignorance, have achieved advanced levels of wisdom and understanding and figured out how to do human life correctly.

Without trying to paint an ugly picture of this modern escalation of wickedness (which would be easy to do), let’s give special attention to the key word—LOVE. We were reminded the other day that the most essential requirement for participation in the Kingdom of God is to LOVE GOD PASSIONATELY (“…with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”—Matthew 22:37). If we were to assign a temperature rating to that description of love, it would have to be HOT. The metaphor holds up in the physical world. We understand that anything that has been made HOT can also become COLD if it is not maintained HOT—either by replenishing, reheating, or adding fuel. But the metaphor also holds up in the realm of human relationships. We’re painfully aware that just because a couple marries with a love temperature at HOT, the relationship will naturally be subjected to cooling—and without mutual effort, can cool to the point of becoming COLD. Is there not an urgent warning here? If I were to apply my own paraphrase to the second half of the verse, it would go something like this: “But he who does his utmost to maintain his personal love for God at a HOT setting will be saved.” And my understanding of what it means to be SAVED views that status as so absolutely important that it is worth absolutely anything it takes to meet its requirement. I hope you agree. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).