Last week we had the heaviest snow fall here in Toronto, Canada. For me and my kids that was just the perfect chance to build a snow man. We don't get to have this much snow often. The snow man you see in this picture is what we ended up building. It is supposed to be me. It is almost my height, a little shorter and it took good two hrs to build. We spent about 3 hrs. out in the snow, shovelling the driveway, building the snow man and having some snow fight. Kids know how to have fun in the snow.
As we were playing in the snow I noticed how excited my kids were and I couldn't help comparing that to how most people including people who were born here hate the snow and get miserable about it. And that reminded me of Jesus’ sermon on the mount.
In Matthew Ch. 5, on his sermon on the mount, Jesus said “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”. That makes it clear God cares about everyone, Christian or not.
 But again towards the end of his sermon on the mount Jesus talked about two types of houses. He said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Notice how the rain came down, the streams rose, the wind blew and beat against both houses. The house built on the rock was not exempted from the storm. The only difference between the two houses is not what happened to them but how they reacted: One fell with great crash and one didn’t.
If you expect your life to be sunny all the time just because you are a Christian, that is some serious misunderstanding of what being a Christian is all about. Sooner or later it is going to snow if it is not already snowing in your life. What you do with the snow is what makes the difference. You can either hibernate and get miserable about it or you can use it to build a snow man with a smile on your face like David here. |