In the concluding part of our introspective series of examining whether we belong to the "Thermometer" or the "Thermostat" category of believers, today let's focus on yet another "Thermostatic" Saint...
Cell...
Let's dive headfirst into the Scriptures...
"I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." (Phil 1:12-14
Hey! The Apostle Paul, far from being discouraged at his confinement to a restrictive Roman "cell" (actually house arrest), was a true "thermostat". In addition to "regulating the temperature" (read preached the Gospel with boldness) of fellow Christians outside of his "cell", he also introduced the heart-warming Gospel to the Roman Soldiers who were guarding him (See Acts 28:16).
Speaking of Roman soldiers (on duty on shift basis) who were always in the vicinity of that great Apostle, it is often asked "who was a prisoner to whom?" Was the Apostle Paul a prisoner to the Roman soldier? Or the other way around? The ever present bubbling infectious joy (the words "joy" and "rejoice" are used not less than 11 times in the Epistle to Philippians) in the Apostle, along with the power of the Gospel in his words, were having their needed impact on the Roman soldiers, as the above-captioned Scripture portion testifies.
Say Reader, are you sharing the Gospel with your fellow plane, train or bus "prisoners"? (Opps! Sorry! I mean "passengers"! Remember that for a few hours, those who are seated beside you cannot "escape" from you!) After establishing a common point of contact, say sports or politics (see 1 Cor. 9:20-23), are you filling their ears with the contageous joy of the Gospel?
Did the Apostle Paul's "thermostat" role in the "heat of his fiery trials" remain confined to only fellow Roman Christians outside his jail and the Roman soldiers inside it? Not at all! Boy, it spanned hundreds of miles. From Rome, courtesy his imprisonment (Rom 8:28) he would dictate Epistles (to scribes such as Tertius - See Rom 16:22), which in turn "regulated" the spiritual temperature for the good of Churches in Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and even in the life of an individual named Philemo
n. Thanks to his imprisonment, we now have access to the "rich spiritual treasures" contained in these four Epistles.
In conclusion what I would like to say is the God-honoring lives of His Saints like that of the awesome threesome in Babylon, of devout Daniel and of pious Paul would play "thermostat" transcending even time and space. Boy, I for one, had the cockles of my heart "warmed-up" writing about them...thousands of years after their inspirational acts. Say Hallelujah, if reading about them produced a similar effect in you!!!
Prayer: Father, we praise and thank Thee for the wondrous heroes of faith who have preceded us in History. Their lives inspire us even today. Enable us to always walk in the straight and narrow of pleasing, while always influencing the World for the better. Help us to be "thermostat" believers instead of "thermometer" believers! In Jesus' Name. Amen
Suresh Manoharan
An unworthy servant
J and SM Ministries
