Psalm 147:15-18 – He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. ¹⁶ He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. ¹⁷ He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? ¹⁸ He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

Water, ice, and snow cover the spillway at Caesar Creek Lake after our first big storm of the winter. Caesar Creek State Park, Waynesville, Ohio.

When it is 16 °F outside and the ground is covered with snow and ice most of us prefer to stay indoors.  It is an easy decision to stay inside, warm and protected from the elements, if you have no reason to go outside and brave the cold.  Likewise, as Christians, we often find ourselves staying within the protective walls of our churches.  We are comfortable and safe among our brothers and sisters in Christ.  It is easy for us to fall into a routine that isolates us from the world and the people outside the doors of our church.

Even if it is cold and harsh out there we need to remember the mission to which Jesus calls us in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  Christ promises to always be with us; and, fortunately for us, the protection he offers is much more certain than that offered by the winter clothing we don to venture out on a cold winter’s eve.

Read more about my “God is Revealed…“ category of posts

© Todd D. Nystrom and Todd the Hiker, 2013.