"Spiritual Fervency" by Nancy Dufresne
Due to coronavirus, there has been much talk about monitoring the body temperature. During the pandemic, we have gone to some places of business where they took our temperature before they would let us enter the building, for the body’s temperature is one indicator if there are health issues.
A person’s body temperature is important, for if someone’s temperature is too low, it will affect the heart and the nervous system, and other organs can’t work. If left untreated, it will lead to heart and respiratory failure, then death. If someone’s temperature is too high, the mind becomes confused, which can be due to infection, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, etc., and can cause death.
We protect our body temperature to protect our organs, and we pay attention to our body temperature, for it’s an indicator of physical health.
Likewise, we must pay attention to our spiritual temperature, for it is an indicator of our spiritual health.
In Revelation 3:15 & 16, Jesus said to the church of the Laodiceans, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Their spiritual temperature was lukewarm – an indication that they were once hot, but then cooled down. Jesus preferred cold over lukewarm because someone who is spiritually cold never had heat applied to them.
In Romans 12:10 & 11, Paul instructed us, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; FERVENT in spirit; serving the Lord.”
“Fervent” in this verse means to be hot, to boil. This is the spiritual temperature for those who are spiritually healthy.
The Amplified translation of verse 11 reads, “Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; BE AGLOW AND BURNING with the Spirit, serving the Lord.”
When someone is full of the Word and the Spirit, they are fervent about the things of God – not apathetic, half-hearted, and distracted from spiritual things.
“BE AGLOW AND BURNING with the Spirit, serving the Lord.” This is how the Lord wants to be served – He wants us to be fervent and hot toward His Kingdom work. He doesn’t want us serving Him half-heartedly and simply out of a sense of duty. We are never to complain in our serving, wishing we didn’t have to do it.
We must pay attention to our spiritual temperature; we are to be fervent – hot and boiling over. If we’re not, we need to correct that. We need to adjust our spiritual temperature.
We need to be aware that there are things that lower our spiritual temperature. (1) Not spending enough time in the Word and prayer, neglecting fellowship with God, will affect your fervency. Church attendance is no substitute for daily walking with God. (2) Neglecting church services and not serving in church will diminish spiritual fervency. (3) Being in wrong relationships and having close fellowship with people who aren’t fervent toward God will affect your spiritual fervency. The right people in your life cause your spiritual life to be hotter, not colder. (4) Going to wrong locations will lower your spiritual fervency. (5) Too much recreation and neglecting the spiritual life will lower your spiritual fervency. Recreation is fine within balance, but some lives and families are built around recreation and not around spiritual things. (6) Working so much that spiritual life is neglected will have a negative effect on your spiritual temperature. Don’t allow business or financial increase to decrease your spirituality. (7) Participating in worldly indulgences – wrong movies, too much video games, wrong websites, etc. Don’t sell off your destiny to worldly entertainment, pleasures, and pastimes.
We need to give time to the things that increase our spiritual fervency. (1) Feeding on the Word and prayer – fellowship with God. (2) Speaking in tongues. Jude 1:20 tells us, “…building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” (3) Attending and serving in church affects spiritual temperature. While in services, we are not to be distracted, but engaged and receiving. (4) Right fellowship and relationships feed your hunger for God. Elisha got what he needed from Elijah by sticking with him.
Mark 12:30 instructs us, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy HEART, and with all thy SOUL, and with all thy MIND, and with all thy STRENGTH: this is the first commandment.” Fervency involves your WHOLE being. When you’re FULL of the Word and the Spirit, you’ll be fervent and wholehearted toward God and His work. Full people are fervent people. There’s nothing of our being that is to be on reserve or withheld from the Lord – in loving, following, and serving Him.
Paul instructed us in II Timothy 2:3, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Difficult circumstances will come that we all have to endure. Being fervent and maintaining the glow will help you to endure. Fervency turns difficult things easy, for fervency helps you to be occupied with the Word, with what’s right and not with what’s opposing. Don’t allow opposition and circumstances to empty you of spiritual strength, but bring your strength of fervency to those situations.
The Word instructs us that we are to be fervent in several ways: in our love for God (Ps. 18:1, AMPC), in our worship of God (Song of Solomon 2:15, AMPC), in our prayer lives & in praying for others (Acts 12:5, AMPC, James 5:16, & Col. 4:12), in our love for others (I Peter 1:22 & 23, AMPC & I Pet. 4:8), and in serving God (Rom. 12:11).
The Dake’s Bible notes state that we are to “maintain zeal to the boiling point.” Our spiritual fervency is to be an outstanding feature of our spiritual lives, and it is our responsibility to maintain our spiritual fervency. It is our joy and honor to serve Him with fervency!