COLD PEOPLE

The neighbor boys (grade- and middle-school-age) created these “extra residents” for their front yard after our first significant snowfall. How cool, I thought, then I realized that “cool” could have several meanings: “entertaining,” “temperature-challenged” or “vulnerable to heat.” This pun also came to mind (forgive me!): “God's Frozen People” (from “God's Chosen People,” of course meaning the nation of Israel back to Bible times). Well, these neighborhood “frozen people” didn't last more than a couple days as temperatures warmed up. But they got me thinking about how God has been teaching me to “chill”--the lingo for “accept, don't get all bothered over”--regarding things in life that don't go as I want.

For many years I've gone through a spiritual learning curve of dealing with unhappy, angry people. My natural tendency is to try to “fix” things. But these situations were way beyond me. Then the Lord showed me that the answer wasn't in my trying to “fix” them, but in my seeking His Face, and behaving in ways that He wanted me to behave. His way was the true chill.

One great text advocating “chill” is in Paul's letter to the Ephesian church. This church, located in today's Turkey, was a commercial seaport with a primary religion devoted to the goddess Diana. This letter got down to specifics of how a Christ-follower should pull away from society's idols and live out the attributes of Christ. In a nutshell, those in Ephesians (4:25-5:2) include:

*Truth-speaking

*Controlling anger

*Giving instead of stealing

*Wholesome speech that builds others up

*Being on guard against grieving God's Holy Spirit

*Forsaking negative emotions (bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander)

*Practicing kindness and compassion

Probably like me, you've known folks whose lives are characterized by the negatives of that list. Yet whenever I read this passage, I am compelled to ask, Which behaviors characterize me? Where can God do some remodeling of my spirit?

Unlike the neighbors' snowmen, we're not vulnerable to the next day's rain or temperature rise. And unlike packed snow created as “art,” we're living, changing, growing creations of the Heavenly Father. Sometimes in life we need to “chill”--as in forsake anger or resentment—but in so doing seek the Sun-shine of the Savior, who is steadily and lovingly shaping us into real, warm-blooded vessels of His love and peace. Chosen people, not Frozen People.