As I stood in line at Ft. Benning Georgia, waiting to hear what duty station the US Army would assign me to, I was shocked when I heard my Sergeant say: “Private Lankford, Ft. Carson, Colorado.” People dream of being stationed in CO; they reenlist to try to get there, and most never succeed. Here I was, a newly enlisted private, getting to move to one of the best permanent-duty assignments the US Army offered. What a dream!
Sadly, that beautiful bubble burst a few months later while I sat inside of a frigid HMMWV (the army’s version of a Hummer) on a training exercise, in the dead of a blistering Colorado winter. We were sitting still, waiting for orders to move, trying to sleep in the biting cold; it wasn’t working. As I sat there, trying warm myself, I felt my body inching closer and closer toward hypothermia. Something had to change.
Just then, orders came down. We were told to move camp a couple of clicks down range in order to participate in another exercise. We all sprang into action. At first, my frozen feet awkwardly resisted, but as I began moving they warmed up and followed my lead. I got to see my entire experience change just by standing up and moving.
As a Christian, we do not need to sit and wait for orders. We have been given sixty-six books filled with the information we need to walk with God. Sadly, many Christians are sitting, frozen and wandering how to get warm again. Perhaps it is time to stand up, get involved, and do something. It may seem awkward at first, but as you move you will see your entire experience change.
The cure to spiritual hypothermia is not to keep on sitting. It is to get up and serve the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon said it this way:
"I believe that many professing Christians are cold and uncomfortable because they are doing nothing for their Lord; but if they actively served him, their blood would begin to circulate spiritually, and it would be well with them."
