Red Sky At Morning

We note in class each year that Jesus told His listeners  they could interpret the weather but they didn't know what was going on in the world. This is from February 2, 2011.

It's really cold in Houston. Not Fairbanks, Alaska cold but for here, it's an Arctic blast. The state of Texas had rolling blackouts this morning in an attempt to preserve the power grids. Our kids clapped the three times it went dark, making an average dreary school day into an memorable one. There are already postponements and cancellations for the rest of the week as Houstonians come to grips with the very real possibility of a rare ice/sleet/snow storm to complement the dangerously low thermometer readings. This was commonplace for me as a kid in Nebraska, where winter weather was a built-in part of the psychological makeup of the Cornhusker State's one million or so inhabitants. It should be a fascinating three or four days on the Gulf Coast. I've found myself turning to the Houston Chronicle website today to find the latest forecast, something I rarely do. On the television, the various stations' weathermen (my bad, METEOROLOGISTS!) are semi-rockstars as they let the natives know what to expect from Mother Nature, especially during hurricane season. They are dominating the airwaves as we speak.Weather forecasting is so much more advanced scientifically than when I was a kid, now complete with color graphics and computer simulations and my favorite, DOPPLER RADAR. I'm sure these atmospheric analysts are well compensated for good reason. They become part of your trusted inner circle when making decisions, sometimes life and death decisions, that concern your family. We have become experts at predicting the coming blizzards and thunderstorms but predicting the weather is nothing new. One time, the religious leaders demanded a sign from Jesus. Look at what the Savior said in response in Matthew 16:
“When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."

I think those words of the Lord sound frighteningly current. Has there ever been a time like ours when the world blurs almost every line between good and evil? It seems that so many celebrities from all different fame factories are intent on breaking down every prohibition known to civilization and calling it enlightenment. Jesus had a word for sin: darkness. Aren't we as believers supposed to be shining lights to show the way to the Christ? I mentioned that in their immaturity, our kids cheered when the lights went out. It was exciting to them, an adventure. They don't realize the danger of the loss of power to the poor, to the elderly, to the very young. I'm afraid all of us, similarly, see the darkness as alluring but we know it's temporary and believe we can handle a little bit of it and we won't get sucked in. But, many of us do and then it becomes a rescue mission. It's going to be very cold tonight in most of the United States.... and very dark. Someones going to need your light and mine to stay warm and find their way back from the darkness, both literally and figuratively. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His followers that, "You are the light of the world." That is one forecast we won't find that on the Weather Channel.

Applicable quote of the Day:
"The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it."
Patrick Young

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com