Just ask the people in the Northeast. We have a relatively balmy 16 degrees here in the Memphis area.
Watching the network news, one would think maybe this has never happened before. After all, what the heck is an Arctic Vortex? I remember way back in the early 1980’s going out one morning in the snow in Knoxville, TN to ride a sled with my son. As soon as I walked out the door, the hair in my nostrils froze. Wow, I thought, maybe we better go back inside and rethink this.
It didn’t take long to discover that the ambient temperature, that’s right, the regular temp, not the windchill, was -25 degrees. On that day, for that one morning, Knoxville, TN was one of the coldest places in the US. So this is not the first or second or third time that we’ve had frigid temperatures in America.
Frigid, what a word. It’s an adjective that describes the weather when is it very cold, bitterly cold, freezing, frozen, bleak, arctic, etc. Even when I think about it I like words like hot, tropical and sunny much, much better. But, frigid can be used in another way. The one I’m thinking about is describes people instead of the weather. A frigid person can be one who shows no friendliness toward someone else, or someone who has no enthusiasm or passion for life. In other words, they come across to those around them as indifferent, distant, aloof, or maybe unapproachable.
That’s sad, really sad. . .especially for Christ followers. I wonder if people ever think about me that way. I certainly hope not. The last thing a redeemed person should be is distant. After all, we’re heaven bound, right? We’re part of a kingdom that will last forever. We’re part of a family that is based entirely on love.
Jesus gave his life for us. He made is possible for us to understand love. And he gave us some marching orders to share that love. It reminds me of two passages in the Bible: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy,” [KJV]–I really like that one and, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” [ESV]–I like that one, too. How can we share our faith, make disciples, and change our world if we are frigid? We can’t.
So, thaw out, speak up, and show some enthusiasm about Christ. The world around you will be better for it.
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