Arctic Blast!

The one constant in life is change. The universe is changing—constantly expanding. We don’t feel the change, but it is there nonetheless—proven by what they call redshift. Redshift? Wikipedia tells us that redshift is what “happens when light or other electromagnetic radiation from an object is increased in wavelength, or shifted to the red end of the spectrum.” This is not what folks talk about when they are gathered around the water cooler; but, apparently, it is an indication that the universe is expanding. As an aside, please note that if we extrapolate back in time, this means that there was a time when the universe was much smaller and compact. Go even farther back and we are led to the unavoidable conclusion that there had to have been a beginning—a time when nothing became something—a sudden, explosive beginning that was both intelligent and purposeful. Such design, as evident in our universe, calls for the existence of a Designer with such power as to have created the universe.

Presently, things are wearing out and growing old. We look in the mirror and things are not what they used to be. The “outer man is decaying…” (2 Cor. 4:16). This also is change. The earth itself is wearing out like a garment (Is. 51:6). Science calls this the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We live in a universe that is changing all around us.

Change can be good or bad—noticed or unnoticed. The difference is often in the rapidity with which such change comes our way. For example, in a recent trip to Central Kansas, I noticed a rapid change in temperature. In a matter of just a few hours, the temperature dropped nearly 40 degrees. Meteorologists called it an arctic blast. I called it cold. Sometimes changes are felt in a dramatic way, like the passing of a cold front. Other times, changes occur slowly, hardly getting any attention. These slow, gradual changes are often the most deadly in the spiritual realm. Our gradual decay in moral values along with the growing acceptance of the world’s agenda slowly leads us into a world where God’s standards are no longer respected or practiced. Such changes are not a blast from the arctic, but a blast from a much warmer place (Mt. 25:41). Take care lest we become incapable of moral outrage—choosing, instead, the sweet slumber of indifference and find ourselves sleeping with the enemy rather than fighting the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12).