Baby its Cold Outside

Pastor Article for the Bowling Green Times to run February 4. They don’t get the picture that you all will see. 

 

“Baby, its cold outside,” seems to be the resounding theme in our area lately.  We have seen snow, ice, rain, wind, sunshine and below freezing temperatures often in the same day.  I have not heard anyone say to me, “I am happy and excited that it is so cold outside today. I love this weather.”  Instead I hear much grumbling, groaning and complaining.  Even our poor snowbirds who tried to escape this cold by going south have experienced the cold and in some areas snow.

We don’t like the cold and some may say we don’t need the cold but scripture tells us in Genesis 8:22, “As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat; winter and summer, day and night.”  We have the seasonal cycle of the world that God created.

Warsaw is a city located in Benton County, Missouri. It is the county seat of Benton County. On July 14, 1954, the temperature in Warsaw rose to 118° Fahrenheit. This remains the hottest temperature ever recorded in the state of Missouri. However, on February 13, 1905, the temperature at Warsaw fell to -40° Fahrenheit the coldest temperature ever recorded in Missouri. (Facts found on Wikipedia.)  This is 186 miles Southwest of Bowling Green.  Now in that light are we glad we don’t live in Warsaw, Missouri?

I am not going to prove or dispel the theory of Global Warming; I am not going to talk about Snowmageddon or Polar Vortex.   My idea of knowing the weather is reading the thermometer and bundling up or dressing down our assortment of children aka the mix-n match crew according to what that magical number reads.

What I am going to talk about though is the cold in our hearts and spirits. Some of us have let those ice walls build around our hearts and aren’t letting God’s love in and allowing the Holy Spirit to shine brightly.  We are frozen and have not thawed out enough to be willing to see God or let him into our lives.  Some folks have become cold to one another and the world. We have to get through our winters of despair and find the spring that brings brightness and color to our hearts and lives.

We have a little dachshund/Jack Russell Terrier mix named Riley-Roo. He loves to sit in the window and look out on the world.  The cold makes his little body shiver and his ears shake. His favorite thing though is to lay in the sunbeams on the floor as it warm. He lays there on his back with his legs up in the air and just basks in the sunlight and warmth.  I think he even smiles a bit and sighs with contentment.

 Riley has the right idea to seeks the sunlight and find that warm spot; just as we should seek the Son-light of Jesus and bask in the warmth of the Holy Spirit and surrender to his care. Psalm 34:4-6, “I asked the Lord for help, and he saved me from all my fears.Keep your eyes on the Lord! You will shine like the sun and never blush with shame.I was a nobody, but I prayed, and the Lord saved me from all my troubles.”

May you stay warm in God’s spirit and be sure to bundle up from the cold ‘cuz, baby it’s cold outside.