I Kings 1:1

Now king David was old andstricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.

Throughout the months of January and February, it seems like the realities of the winter hit harder for everyone. The excitement of the holidays, seeing a snowflake, and spending extra time with the family have barely outlived their expiration dates. Further, my golf clubs haven’t seen the golf course in weeks. The new golf “toys” we got for Christmas are still in the box.

If you are anything like me, winter is like a 12 round championship boxing match for the golfer. I can “weather” through and play in November and a few times in December thinking the season is not so bad. However, January and February feel like the championship rounds in this boxing match. My desire and excitement have both waned. After a certain amount of snow and days with cold temperatures, we get to the point where we don’t care if we ever do anything outdoors again. Like David, I lack heat.

If we are not careful our spiritual temperatures as a believer can wane because of a “winter season.” These spiritual “winter” seasons are when we feel our lowest and the furtherest away from Christ. In the scripture above, we read that David was becoming older and more fragile. He could not feel the heat even when he was covered in clothes. The people around David tried everything imaginable to restore his “energy.” Consider our spiritual periods when our “heat” has fell to such a level when it seems nothing can revive us.

We have to be careful as not to lose or change our spiritual appetites because of the circumstances of life. Sickness and disappointment are inevitable in this life. There are seasons of “spiritual flu” when it feels as if our health will never return. Our spirit aches for a return of the close communion with our Savior. It is not He who has drifted.

We serve a faithful Lord and it is us who have allowed our countenance and appetite to be affected by the circumstances of life. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus reminds us that, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” The appetite of the believer cannot be filled with the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world. Jesus tells us that it is only the hunger and thirst for righteousness that truly fills our appetite.

My diet is pretty well under control until Thanksgiving rolls around. I recover well for a few weeks until the candy and baked goods of Christmas arrive. It is then I realize my appetite has become one that requires these sugary and fatty foods. It becomes increasingly difficult to be satisfied without these desserts which have been so readily available.

We can easily allow our spiritual appetite be relegated to such a diet. The longer and more frequent we depend upon these “fixes”, the harder it is for us to have an appetite for healthy foods again. The longer we are absent from the golf course or the gym because of the weather, the harder is becomes to “heat up” our desire for physical activity. The same is true for our spiritual temperature. In order to maintain our spiritual hunger, we must keep a desire for righteousness through Christ. The “blankets” of the world cannot satisfy this hunger. I pray we have this desire for a renewed strength to yearn for righteousness.