A bitter and bleak world it was, with the peaks obscured and enshrouded, and sending earthward the eerie scream of the gale as it sheered the sharp points; a world of torturing cold and uneasy loneliness.”
–Ernest Haycox (Chaffee of Roaring Horse)
“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
–Matthew 24:12 (NKJV)
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“Cold and it’s getting colder,
Gray and white and winter all around,
And oh, I must be getting older,
And all this snow is trying to get me down…”
–John Denver
Friend, I’m telling you that the old starter is starting harder. The cold affects me more now that I’m three-fourths of a century old. I move along carefully so as to protect this precious cargo called my human body. I doubt that we’ll see the white stuff–snow, down here in the lower part of East Texas, but there could be plenty of ice. Besides that it is going to be just plain cold. Ice, that’s worse than snow.
I know the Scripture declares that “From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds of the north. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen.” (Job 37:9-10, NKJV) Winter is here, and I realize that it’s the season of ice, snow, and the cold. The toes are tingling already in expectation and I read the words of the Psalmist, “He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?” (147:17, KJV)
We normally do not think of ice and snow in regard to God. It is the idea of a consuming fire, or the fires of hell, or destroying the world by fire when our minds go to this metaphor of God’s creation. His breath is cold. Brrr, makes me shiver. However, we need to understand that God set forth the seasons under His creative word. He controls them under His divine laws, and true, the weather can be controlled by His word. He gives His word to the wind, the ice, the snow, the cold and it happens, oh, that we as humans could obey so easily and readily.
Some of those first scenes from Narnia made me shiver. The wicked witch, Jadis, uses winter for control. She was able to force the entire land in a state of frozen ice and snow. She is the representation of evil, but don’t we usually associate evil with fire, with hellfire? But what does winter symbolize? The last breath of life. The coming of death. When the body dies, look at it lying there in the casket–it looks frozen. Ice… I will further ask, what is the heart without the Lord? Cold, hard, like ice. The warmth of the Holy Spirit is all that could touch it, but many refuse His warmth and stay frozen, away from God.
Too many carry around a cold, cold heart. The words from Hank Williams come to mind, “Why can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?” If the heart is cold now toward God, in the future when the body faces the coldness of death it will quickly be warmed up. Not by the warmth of the Spirit but by the fires of Hades. Now is the time for the Holy Spirit to use the warmth of His love to regenerate the heart. Now is the time when the spiritual ice can be thawed and the soul flow with the warmth of God’s love.
As Jack Frost approaches, and the wind brings the cold from the north know that it is only for a few days, a season and that God is in control. Let our hearts be warm as we see the icicles form knowing that God brings His love to us. For the Psalmist continues, “He sends out His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.” (147:18, NKJV) Oh, rejoice in the warmth of the Holy Spirit even as nature is in the throes of ice and winter.
“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
–Matthew 24:12 (NKJV)
—————————–
“Cold and it’s getting colder,
Gray and white and winter all around,
And oh, I must be getting older,
And all this snow is trying to get me down…”
–John Denver
Friend, I’m telling you that the old starter is starting harder. The cold affects me more now that I’m three-fourths of a century old. I move along carefully so as to protect this precious cargo called my human body. I doubt that we’ll see the white stuff–snow, down here in the lower part of East Texas, but there could be plenty of ice. Besides that it is going to be just plain cold. Ice, that’s worse than snow.
I know the Scripture declares that “From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds of the north. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen.” (Job 37:9-10, NKJV) Winter is here, and I realize that it’s the season of ice, snow, and the cold. The toes are tingling already in expectation and I read the words of the Psalmist, “He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?” (147:17, KJV)
We normally do not think of ice and snow in regard to God. It is the idea of a consuming fire, or the fires of hell, or destroying the world by fire when our minds go to this metaphor of God’s creation. His breath is cold. Brrr, makes me shiver. However, we need to understand that God set forth the seasons under His creative word. He controls them under His divine laws, and true, the weather can be controlled by His word. He gives His word to the wind, the ice, the snow, the cold and it happens, oh, that we as humans could obey so easily and readily.
Some of those first scenes from Narnia made me shiver. The wicked witch, Jadis, uses winter for control. She was able to force the entire land in a state of frozen ice and snow. She is the representation of evil, but don’t we usually associate evil with fire, with hellfire? But what does winter symbolize? The last breath of life. The coming of death. When the body dies, look at it lying there in the casket–it looks frozen. Ice… I will further ask, what is the heart without the Lord? Cold, hard, like ice. The warmth of the Holy Spirit is all that could touch it, but many refuse His warmth and stay frozen, away from God.
Too many carry around a cold, cold heart. The words from Hank Williams come to mind, “Why can’t I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?” If the heart is cold now toward God, in the future when the body faces the coldness of death it will quickly be warmed up. Not by the warmth of the Spirit but by the fires of Hades. Now is the time for the Holy Spirit to use the warmth of His love to regenerate the heart. Now is the time when the spiritual ice can be thawed and the soul flow with the warmth of God’s love.
As Jack Frost approaches, and the wind brings the cold from the north know that it is only for a few days, a season and that God is in control. Let our hearts be warm as we see the icicles form knowing that God brings His love to us. For the Psalmist continues, “He sends out His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.” (147:18, NKJV) Oh, rejoice in the warmth of the Holy Spirit even as nature is in the throes of ice and winter.