Dear Cobham Park Church Family,
After several days of temperatures climbing into the high 80s, I cheerfully walked out my front door this morning in a short sleeve shirt. (No, I didn’t check the weather forecast first.) I was immediately greeted with bracing 40° Fahrenheit air. Come to think of it, I’ve been constantly switching the church thermostats from heat to air conditioning—and then back to heat again—for a solid month. And I’ve moved my potted ferns indoors and back outside again multiple times. Welcome to Virginia weather! When will Spring finally make up her mind?
If we’re honest with ourselves, we Christians must admit that we have trouble making up our own minds about following Jesus. I’m not talking about believing in Him or being baptized—you may have settled that years ago. If so, you can be confident that you will be saved from eternal death through Christ, just as surely as you know winter is gone and spring is in progress. But we still have trouble making up our minds about what we will do with pet sins, entrenched bad habits, and secret shame. Our faith can be as unpredictable as the weather, alternating between hot, cold, and lukewarm. Even mature Christians are still vulnerable to an occasional spiritual frost. We tend to disguise, minimize, or rationalize our wavering ways. And we find it far easier to concentrate on other people’s problems instead of dealing with our own. This pharisaical impulse has been around since Adam and Eve’s fig leaf wardrobe. No wonder the world often calls us hypocrites.
Many Christians, however, are honestly and painfully aware of their shortcomings. If that’s the case with you, know that you’re in good company. Even the apostle Paul was frustrated by his spiritual failures: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing (Romans 7:19*).” A friend of mine recently vented on Facebook about her diet: “I not only fell off the diet-wagon, but I dragged it into the woods, set it on fire, and then used the insurance money to buy cupcakes.” I often feel that way about my own flaws and failures. They make me wonder why God even bothers with me. But then I run to the cross! I remember the Lord’s fierce love, unbreakable promises, and rock-steady faithfulness. I may be as unstable as spring temperatures, but God’s faithfulness keeps me going, hoping, and smiling! Jesus is alive, and so guilt’s frost can’t kill me. I even checked the forecast this time: “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it (I Thessalonians 5:24).”
In His Love,
Pastor Keith
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