As I ponder the freezing temperature outside, I am reminded of God's encouragement to us to remember a similar spiritual point found in Revelation 3. Last among the letters to the churches was the instruction to the church in Laodicea. As God gave instruction to each church, He listed good points and areas of caution for each. For Laodicea, however, He desired only that they be either hot or cold. What a curious thing to say! Hot we can understand, but why cold? God wants to know where we stand. At least if we are cold, there is no ambiguity, no guessing which side we have picked. In writing to the churches, God was recording His desire for them to be focused on Him first and foremost—no matter the physical difficulties, no matter the change in circumstances, no matter how the world around them functioned. His desire for Laodicea was no different; He wanted them to "be hot" for Him. The Greek word there for "hot" is the word zestos, which literally means, "boiled" or "fervently hot." Lukewarm, on the other hand, is tantamount to sitting on the fence, not committing either way. God wants us to be hot—to be on fire for His way of life—not lukewarm. The problem for the church in Laodicea was that they had been distracted by the prosperity of the culture around them. They had received some of the riches of the economy around them through the trade of locally grown, fine black wool and eye powder developed through a school of medicine in the vicinity. After an earthquake devastated the area, the community was so wealthy that they turned down aid from Rome and rebuilt the area themselves. It is possible that even the members of the local church congregation began to trust in this physical wealth. God uses analogies referring to the primary source of that wealth to underscore a lesson. "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see" (Revelation 3:17-18). Even though they had fine clothes and medicine for eye problems, spiritually they were naked and blind, because they had taken their focus off of God and put their trust in those commodities. While those whom God has not called are indifferent to a God-focused life, we in the Church should know better. We know that we cannot place our trust in physical things, and yet we can allow those things to take our focus off of God. God wants all of mankind to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4); that is to say, He wants us to be hot, as He desires in Revelation 3:15. If, however, someone decides not to follow God's way of life, He would rather it be clear. Where do we stand? Are we cold, or even lukewarm, like so much of the world around us? Or are we full of fervent heat for God? While we experience the deep cold of the winter around us, let's be reminded that we should be full of heat for God's way of life. The Sabbath day is just one stop along the way where we can draw on that warmth from God and each other. Let's be zealous to make the most of what God has given us.