Wednesday, January 11, 2023

             I Kings opens with the statement that when King David was old, he could not stay warm.  No matter how many covers were put on him, he could not stay warm (I Kings 1:1).  We can easily imagine him buried beneath a pile of blankets.  Maybe you’re in that same state at times!  The solution was bringing a woman named Abishag to lie beside him and help him stay warm.  The Bible makes it clear that this arrangement was not an intimate or immoral one (I King 1:2-4).  Rather, this plan was a way to help an aging king stay warm.  Maybe you can identify with his struggle to stay warm in these winter months.
            Though David battled a problem with physical warmth, there are challenges we face to stay spiritually warm.  We want our faith in Christ to be alive, growing and warm.  Spiritual coldness or apathy can often be a huge problem that some people battle.  And others may not even realize how cold or apathetic they have become.  To stay spiritually warm, we have to consider several important matters.  First, we cannot stay spiritually warm if we have never had a born-again, conversion experience where Christ became our Savior and Lord.  We have to be able to identify a moment in life where we gave up on ourselves and everything else to place our full trust and all hope in Christ and Him alone.  To answer the question “do I know the Lord?” we have to look at the fruit we produce.  Galatians 5:22-23 provides a list of the fruit of the Spirit.  Do you see yourself growing in these ways?  Would others say that you are growing?  A fruitless life should be a sober reason for alarm and concern.  No one will ever stay warm if he or she does not have a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ.  We cannot kindle a fire that does not exist in the first place.
            But to stay warm, stay in the Word.  Read your Bible consistently and reflectively.  What is God revealing to you?  Where is God correcting or counseling you?  Have a plan in place to read your Bible consistently and thoughtfully rather than just occasionally reading whatever it falls open to and whenever you feel like it.  We can hide the Word of God in our hearts (Psalm 119:11).  The Word keeps hearts warm, clean and surrendered to the Lord Jesus.  Next, develop some friendships with other believers who can help to disciple you and support you in your walk with Christ.  Most of the time this happens with one or two other believers with whom you can share your life, prayers, struggles and victories.  Proverbs 12:15 says that a wise man listens to advice.  Proverbs 17:17 says that “a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”  The insulation of godly friendship can keep us spiritually warm.    
            Pray throughout the day.  A dedicated prayer time is good to have.  But we are not to limit ourselves just to an appointed prayer time each day.  We can pray through the day (Paul counseled this practice in 2 Thessalonians 5:17).  We can pray anytime and anywhere.  Prayer is one more spiritual layer that God wraps around us.  Commit time to worship on Sundays and during the other six days.  Do not neglect coming together with other believers to give worship and glory to God (Hebrews 10:25).  Use your life to serve the Lord. Find a way to share the gospel each day.  Find a way to offer your time and talents to the Lord in service and surrender.  May you stay warm physically and spiritually.  There is nothing we can do to control the weather or daily temperatures.  But we can surely control the spiritual thermometer and the steps we take to stay warm spiritually each day.  Have a great Wednesday!  Remember you can worship any time of day at youtube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.