WHAT IS YOUR HEART'S TEMPERATURE?

I don't know about you, but when I was a child and was running a fever, my mom always knew where to find our good, old, trusty thermometer. It was in a safe place in my parents bathroom, in a plastic cup, in the cabinet under their sink. So at the Queen's household, if you were having to deal with a fever and wanted to know how sick you might truly be, you headed for my parent's bathroom to retrieve the instrument that worked perfectly, EVERY TIME! Just place the little end under your tongue, wait a couple of minutes, remove and read the results....and that was the difficult part. Trying to hold the thermometer in just the right position so you could see the mercury and line up the top part of the mercury with the numbers on the thermometer.  Exasperating, right?

In my younger days, I was not really good at reading the results and had to rely on my parents to help; however, as I entered my teen years, I was a master thermometer reader. But when my wife and I became parents for our little girl, we upped our game and bought a digital thermometer. Now that's living! No more guesswork, no more twisting the thermometer to just the right angle and then trying to get a quick peek before the mercury seemed to disappear before your eyes....we just put it under our daughter's tongue, waited for the beep, then read the numbers. Easy, breezy, right?

Which brings me to today's question...how do you take the temperature of your heart for Jesus? What instrument can you use to get the results and then, how do you interpret those results? The answer I think is really quite simple...OPEN GOD'S WORD AND READ WHAT JESUS HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS SUBJECT. In Matthew 24:12,  God's Word speaks of the first temperature; "More and more people everywhere will be doing very bad things. Because of this, many people will no longer love each other in the way that they did before." (Easy English Bible)  Here Jesus is telling us that when hearts grow cold, do bad things and fail to love as before, then evil hearts abound. Cold, rebellious hearts lead us to the opposite of warm familial affection. Gone is our brotherly love for family and friends as we back stab our loved ones and turn away from those who need us most. Matthew 24:10 says a cold heart is one filled with betrayal; “Then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.” (NIV)  If your heart is cold, you will become an instrument of lawlessness and there will be no room in your heart for Jesus.

The second temperature, I believe is the one that Jesus hated most....the temperature of being lukewarm. Scripture says,  "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." (Revelation 3:15-16)  Unfortunately, this is the temperature of too many believers in the church in this modern era. They are so caught up in the things of the world that their love for Christ is neither HOT nor COLD...just LUKEWARM. AND THAT'S A REAL PROBLEM FOR OUR LORD. The problem, the way I see it, is that the lukewarm Christian is too hard to distinguish from most of the world's population that neither love and worship Jesus nor despise, hate and work against the teachings of Jesus...in other words, they just don't care about Jesus enough to take a stand. Ever taken a lukewarm shower? Was it GOOD, BAD or just WASTED WATER?

And our last temperature to consider...A HEART ON FIRE; a heart burning for Jesus. After the Resurrection, as Jesus is making His way on the road to Emmaus, He meets two travelers who are returning from Jerusalem.  It is after He breaks bread with them that their eyes were opened, and  they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32  EHV) It is this 'burning" temperature that Jesus wants, no requires, from those that would profess their love, loyalty and dedication to Him as their Lord and Savior. And a love like this is always followed by....

ACTION!

And the remaining Scripture in Luke  bears this out. "And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them." (Luke 24:33 NASB)

So, what is your heart's temperature....COLD; LUKEWARM OR ON FIRE FOR THE LORD?

If you are not sure, then I suggest that you look closely at your actions to determine you temperature....NOTHING to do with God...must be approaching FRIGID; LITTLE to do with God...must be LUKEWARM....CAN'T DO ENOUGH FOR GOD....YOUR HEART IS ON FIRE....SO DON'T LET THE WILES OF THE DEVIL PUT OUT THAT FLAME....JUST KEEP BURNING BRIGHTLY FOR THE LORD AND HE WILL HONOR YOU IN ALL YOU DO FOR HIM!!!

On fire for the Lord....Lighting up others as I go,

WPQ

Poem for the day...

When I was just a lad of six

Seated on my father's knee;

He told me of His Jesus

And the love He had for me.

 

He told me that my Father

Who lives in Heaven above;

Had sent His only Son to die

So that He could show His love.

 

And so I called on Jesus

To come and live in me;

So that I could tell all others

And live a life that sets me free.

 

And so the greatest joy I know;

It's my only heart's desire,

That I will live for Jesus

With a heart that burns like fire!

 

WPQ  ©  April 2024