Whoa...Too Extreme!

Okay. Zero degrees. Now that's just ridiculous!


Eight degrees below zero. How can you be below zero? Isn't zero the bottom?


Can you tell I'm growing weary of winter?


Six months from now, here in good ol' temperate Oklahoma, it could be over 100 for several days in a row.

But spring is beautiful here...all four days of it!

It's been said that Oklahoma gets the weather the other states don't want and if you've lived here for very long, you are likely to agree. For a place with no mountains and no oceans, Indian Territory does seem to attract weather extremes.


We humans don't usually enjoy extremes in anything. We claim to like watching other people play "extreme sports" and do "extreme home makeovers," but when it comes to our own lives, we like living in the middle. Even politically, we don't like being classified as extreme either way. It seems so...well, intolerant. And exacting. And what if we're not right? Don't we want to leave a little wiggle room?


Despite what we'd like to think, God is really into extremes.


In fact, he can't stand the middle. In the Old Testament, Joshua drew that line in the sand when he said, "Choose this day whom you will serve; if other gods, then go after them. But if it be God, serve him with all your might."


In the New Testament, Jesus continues that theme when he tells his followers, "You cannot serve two masters. You will love one and hate the other. You cannot serve both God and money."


And God finishes his written word to us by reminding us in the book of Revelation that he wants us to be either hot or cold. If we are lukewarm, he warns us that he will "spew us out of his mouth." (Rev. 2)


In 2011 English jargon, that means "If you claim to be My child, then follow Me with all your might. Otherwise, you make Me want to vomit."


God could never be characterized as being a "moderate."


So have you made your choice? Kindof?


Don't make the mistake of thinking you are impressing God with wishy-washy, half-hearted gestures in His direction. That approach was invented by Satan himself to keep you from knowing God. Satan would love you to buy into the idea that you are so open-minded and loving that you can "see all sides." That you are "well-rounded" rather than being sold out body, mind, and spirit for the God you claim to serve.


That's just too...too...well, isn't that overdoing the religious thing? We don't want to be thought of as zealots or anything...


God is not open-minded and he doesn't consider that a virtue. He points to the two options and says, "Pick one."


I don't like extreme weather, extreme fads, or extreme anything. But my life's goal is to be considered extreme from God's standpoint. All the way. One hundred percent committed to Him and His calling on my life. I may miss the mark more often than I'd like, but when I stand before God one day, I want Him to call me an extremist.
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