—Revelation 3:15
If ever you had two men who were hot and cold, it was Ananias and Saul.
Ananias was aflame with the Holy Spirit and part of an unstoppable revolution of grace that contemporaries simply called, “The Way.” Paul, the impeccable Pharisee, was on the frontlines as a staunch defender of the Jewish law. Towards any revolutionaries among “The Way” Paul’s blood ran cold. And so he persecuted them with the same vigilance he applied in his own devotion to the law.
Hot and cold were about to collide. God had a divine appointment for both men—one that would change the world forever.
But here’s what we mustn’t miss. In this crucial moment when God is looking for a person to change the world, he looks past all the lukewarm guys and grabs hold of the coldest of them all. In this moment, the man who was the most passionately wrong about Jesus was the one who was most useful to Him. It’s as if God is telling us all, “Now here is something I can use!”
You want to change the world? Turn up the temperature.
Or, in the words of the great middle school director,
It's OK to be passionate about a hobby, passionate about sports, passionate about romance, passionate about education, passionate about PTA, passionate about a career. What's up with this "chicken" behavior that we, who follow "The Way", demonstrate when it comes to The ONE and ONLY who showed total abandon and passion for us? The Passion of The Christ was about total, passionate love for sinners, for humanity. He loved with total abandon. What's up with us and our on the fence, self-centered, "what about me?" "tudes"? Thank you CBSM and Promised Land Directors, for demonstrating, living and teaching this kind of passion to our guys. We know they imitate our behavior and it is powerful to see such behavior already shaping the lives of many youngsters at Cedarbrook! U ROCK!
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