Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

It’s been raining, but it doesn’t look like any is falling here at present. Good. I have some work to do out there.

The devotional below became a little long again. Sorry. But it’s taxing to limit the volume of ideas expressed. There are lots of them there. Maybe I’ll mention just one other idea. It’s represented by the word “most” in the FOCUS VERSE. That can only mean that the odds are against us. And it can only mean that we are wise to be serious about deciding which percentage group we want to be in. It’s the same ratio between the many and the few that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 7:13-14.

May God’s blessing be yours as you process the Word, your own life, and today.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Jesus’ discourse in Matthew 24 seems to me to be on a par with other prophetic Bible passages that foretell future events. Seldom are these disclosures crystal clear in their precise meanings and applications until after their fulfillment—making much of the presentation subject to speculation and various spins on interpretation prior to its fulfillment. But without trying to sort out all the details of this particular chapter, there is one message that comes through for me loud and clear—SPIRITUAL COLDNESS IS BOTH DANGEROUS AND UNAVOIDABLE IF PROPER SPIRITUAL TEMPERATURE IS NOT PERSONALLY MAINTAINED. That is a truth to live by no matter where we are on the time-line of human history.

Here, therefore, is a worthy question: Are you in possession of a reliable thermometer that will monitor your spiritual temperature? If not, you are at great risk. Your spiritual temperature will certainly move from the range of normal/safe/healthy to abnormal/insecure/deadly. Spiritual coldness causes all kinds of related dangerous conditions, not the least of which is DECEPTION. It only makes sense that a healthy temperature will accommodate a healthy immune system—resistant to the infection of DECEPTION.

It’s quite easy for me to gather Biblical data to identify and define a PASSIONATE HEART AFTER GOD. That gathering of Biblical data, known, believed, and understood form the best and most reliable thermometer that I know of for testing and monitoring one’s spiritual temperature. Take, for example, the first command to LOVE GOD PASSIONATELY (Matthew 22:37-40). I only need to personally measure the degree (temperature is measured in degrees) of my own love for God against that standard. And it only makes sense that it is virtually impossible to “grow cold” simultaneous with SEEKING FIRST HIS KINGDOM RULE (Matthew 6:33).

It may be worth noting that growing cold is not the same as frozen coldness. It does, however, describe a condition of lukewarmness. Yikes! Read Revelation 3:15-16. Well, let me cite it: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

Here we are again—arriving at the same bottom-line conclusion—stressing the most important and safest ingredient to a successful life—a HEART AFTER GOD—with a passion to make everything we do, say, plan, pursue, hear, see, and think conform to pleasing our Sovereign Maker and Master. Without a doubt, this mindset offers a powerful antidote to COLDNESS and DECEPTION.