“He has delivered us from the power of the darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His Love.”  Colossians 1:13

A lesson from nature.  Water freezes under normal circumstances at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, 0 degrees Celsius (and according to the Smithsonian 273.15 Kelvin?).  Currently where I live the temperature is 12 degrees below the freezing point or 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) with, because of the wind, a windchill that makes the air feel like 7 degrees.  We have recently had several inches of snow fall.  So here’s what one might expect.  That even though the sun is shining, there would not be any appreciable melting going on.  I just got finished going out for a walk (questionable behavior I will grant you) and here is what I found.  Everywhere the sun is striking the ground, whether it be the road, grass or building, melting is happening.  Not just some slight decrease around the edges. No, there is significant water run off in all directions.  Everywhere the sun is blocked from hitting the ground, the snow and ice remain unchanged.

Now some would describe to me the process of light absorption generating heat and the like.  Yet here’s a truth, at least to me.  This is  about the fundamental comparison of power.  The world has set up just the right conditions for the snow and ice to remain.  If this were night, there would be extremely little if any melting taking place.  But even the extremely significant power of the world, in several different characteristics in this case (the air temperature plus the wind), can not withstand the overpowering energy supplied from the sun.  The snow is melting.  The thaw is happening.

We should not be surprised that the basic processes of nature would also be a teaching mechanism for Our Heavenly Father’s relationship with us.  For after all, God created all things natural and the processes which govern them.  God also created all things spiritual, including the most powerful spiritual manifestation; Love.

What is the lesson (I know many have probably grasped it but just in case)?  This world and the temporary prince of it, is designed to cause spiritual darkness along with the cold and ice that weighs down the hearts of humankind.  That darkness’s mission is to cause us to be immobile like a large block of virtual ice.  To be so immobile as a matter of fact, that we will never move or reach out to help anyone else.  So cold that we will not reach up to He who is in heaven to even help ourselves.  So immobile that we never come out of the darkness into the light.  And even though we mysteriously find ourselves gravitating naturally toward the darkness, Our Heavenly Father in all His Mercy, saw fit to not leave us trapped on that journey or in its dark, cold, desolate destination.

The lesson is that the Power of The Son, His Son Jesus Christ will always overpower the the strength of this world.  Wherever the Light of His Light, that is His Love shines, the world can not stop the melting of the coldness of people’s hearts or stop the thawing of our souls.  Some, sadly many, will flee that light, instead, searching for and finding the soul numbing cold that will keep them frozen stiff and trapped. Yet for you and I, upon finding His Light, will instantly feel the power of His Warmth.  We will feel the ice on our heart cracking and falling away.  Hands and feet, soaked numb by the cold, will find the ability to move and feel again through the Power of His Love.  The world will not give up its hold easily.  We probably will encounter icy patches and may very well slip and even fall.  But, because of His Light, we will be able to see how to get back up and overtime, those patches will be less and less.

Yet here is the warning.  The ice doesn’t melt on its own.  No matter how hard you or I might try on our own, without His Light, we will remain frozen.  But, His Light is not passive or stagnant.  Like the most powerful lighthouse beacon, it is a searchlight, constantly reaching out to you and I to guide us Home.  Guide us to Him.

Natural cold and snow is great for skiing.  The ice skating maneuver, a triple lutz, is impossible to perform off the surface of a liquid swimming pool; you must have ice.  But spiritual cold and ice is a killer to the soul.  The spiritual frostbite brought about by relying solely on this world can be just as deadly as the medical condition.  There is no reason for us to live in that darkness.  We have the gift of the Son who never sets.  A shining Son no cloud can shroud or eclipse can block.  May you and I find ourselves relying on, totally immersed in; the Light which is the Love of Jesus Christ.

Our Most Gracious and Heavenly Father, we thank you for the overpowering Light that is the Love of Jesus Christ.  Please give us the spirit to seek out His Light and the strength to not stop until we find It.  Upon finding His Light, may we reach out to help others who are in darkness, to find His Light.  Most Merciful Father, be with us when we slip and fall not allowing us to slide back into darkness.  That, being in the Light we will live as people of His Light to the praise of Your Most Holy Name.  In Jesus Christ we pray.  Amen