The Barrier

 

I have two beautiful pink impatiens growing on my windowsill. Growing flowers is a common practice, but what is amazing about growing this annual is that it is February. The only thing that keeps the plant alive is the pane of glass in the window. The little plant does not know that death stands on the other side of the window where the temperature dipped to minus two below last week here on Miracle Mountain. However, the plant thrives because it is in the house where it is warm and protected.

 

My daughter, Kim, once lived in Brigantine, New Jersey.  Storms often rolled in from the sea and one time she had to evacuate. She had two cats named Harley and Davidson. Kim didn’t know it, but Davidson followed her out the door when she was fleeing for safety. So while the storm raged outside, Harley sat inside the house warm and content, while Davidson scratched at the glass door trying to get in. The only thing separating the two cats was the glass door.

 

The Bible states that Christians are in the world, but that they are not of this world.

 

“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14-16).

 

How can Christians live in the world, yet not be of the world? It is God Who makes the difference. The Lord is like the glass in the window that keeps the impatiens alive when the temperature outside is freezing. The Lord is like the glass door that kept one cat from the raging storm.

 

The Lord is our protector, our provider, our hope, our Savior, and our future. He is the barrier that keeps us from the evil in the world. So though we are in the world, it is the Lord Jesus Who helps us not to belong to this world.

 

Have a great day in the Lord and trust Him for everything.

 

Christine