The Ship of Ice

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” [Revelation 3:15,16]

On September 22, 1840, Captain Brighton of the whaling ship Hope claimed to have happened upon a strange sight – a ship frozen in the ice of the Drake Passage near Antarctica. Boarding the ship, Captain Brighton found that the crew had died some years before, but their bodies had been perfectly preserved by the frigid temperatures of the Antarctic sea. They were frozen solid – some in their hammocks as if asleep. The captain of the Jenny was sitting at his desk in front of his log book, his pen still in his hand. The last entry read: “No food for 71 days. I am the only one left alive.” According to the date, the schooner Jenny had been floating among the icebergs for thirteen years.

While this account is unsubstantiated and likely only a sea-faring legend, it is thought provoking. Do we have churches with a temperature problem? Jesus warned that His church at the end of time would think that they are rich and in need of nothing, but in reality they are “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Thankfully, Jesus also provided a solution: “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 3:18).

The gold Jesus refers to is a loving faith, the kind that can endure tough trials. He offers us His white garments of righteousness – His life lived out within us (Isaiah 61:10), but first we need to look to Jesus so our blind eyes can see our true condition. When we realize how our spiritual pride has blinded us and how poor we really are, we might well ask how a poor man can afford gold and new clothes. That’s the best part! Jesus intends for us to buy from Him “without money” because He’s paid the price (Isaiah 55:1).

Good news like this can thaw even the hardest heart!