Are You a Thermometer or a Thermostat?

Besides Jesus, there is more written about David than any other character in the Bible. The runner up is Abraham with 14 chapters, then Joseph who also has 14 chapters, Elijah has 10 chapters, but David has 66 chapters dedicated to him! This is a guy whom God wanted us to know about.

1 Corinthians 10:6-11 tells us, “6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did…11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us…” You can either live by the life of hard knocks or we can learn from things from other people. David is a character in the Bible which we can learn from. We can look at his life as an example of what to do and what not to do.

This may be a silly illustration to some but I can always remember my Pawpaw would always adjust the thermostat. Because of this, we would always subtly joke around with him. If you walked in doing a slight shiver and say, “Man it’s freezing!” He would reply, “It is cold in here (throwing on a blanket), change that thermostat!” Then there were times when Pawpaw would be completely happy, watching Gunsmoke, and have a blanket on him. But if you would make a comment like, “Man it’s hot in here.” He would throw that blanket off and say, “Yeah it is warm! Turn down that temperature.” Constantly this would happen throughout the day at my grandparent’s house.

We adjust our thermostats in our houses because it changes the room temperature. In life there are mood and lifestyle temperatures that are set. Sometimes you go to work and someone is in a bad mood. People are upset and grouchy. The tone is set, but are we going to be a thermometer or a thermostat?

Dr. Tim Elmore once wrote, “People are either thermometers or thermostats. They merely reflect the climate around them, or they will set it. Leaders develop values and principles to live by and set the tone for others.” A thermometer reflects what the temperature is around it. If everyone is full of fear, they will also be fearful. A thermostat is something that sees the current temperature but changes it. In life we either simply reflect culture around us or we can change it.

When David went to fight Goliath the whole temperature of the situation was doom and gloom. For forty days they had been living in fear of Goliath. Yet when David walks into the situation, he changes the temperature. He defeats Goliath not with a sword or shield but, “In the name of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 17:45). God has called us to be a light in the darkness. We are to be hope where there is no hope. Are you a thermometer or a thermostat?