Carol J German

What would you think if someone asked you to jump into boiling water? Uh, the answer would be no! We know what would happen if we did such a thing. But that’s exactly what I want you to do! Go skinny-dipping into some very hot water. Why, you may be asking? Because it will be the best thing for you! I do have your best interest in hand. So don’t worry, you can trust me. Maybe you will thank me later 🙂

Take a look at the picture of these carrots. There isn’t anything special about them. They are carrots. You wouldn’t say they are pretty. They are irregular-shaped and some are taller while others are shorter. They are marred and dirty and we all know they are hard. While some would eat them as is, most of us would peel them and then cut them up in various ways depending on what we are going to do with them.

What happens to carrots when you steam them in a delightful jacuzzi bath of hot water? Why they soften, of course. And this is what I want for you. To be softened, changed. What if? What if I were to tell you that after seeping yourself in the hot water, you would begin to enjoy it? It wouldn’t be so startling to you and scary. You would discover a new way of being. And I guarantee you, you would go, “Why didn’t I jump in before! What was I thinking?”

Today is your lucky day! It’s time to go chunky-dunking, as some of you may see yourselves. It’s time to try a new way of living life. Are you willing? As I mentioned, I want for you to be softened, changed. Why? Because I have been softened and changed by our amazing God and what He has shown me, I want you to experience too! I cannot keep it to myself because it is simply that amazing!

Today is the first day of your life, if you are willing to jump in with no reservations. While the boiling pot of water looks rather menacing, once you get yourself wet you will get used to the water and it will start feeling good. Your muscles will relax, your mindset will breathe and a feeling like “Calgon just took me away” will envelop you. That phrase is dating me, not to mention my baby picture.

So, for our first day together in learning how to live united in His love, we need to be willing. To be willing to be changed, from the inside out. It’s a willingness to jump in, submerse ourselves fully. God’s love is not about wading in the shallows nor sitting on the sidelines not wanting our hair and make-up to get ruined. It is jumping in all the way and letting God have all of you. He is the God of 100%. There is no 99% for God, 1% for me. There is no 50-50. We are willing to be 100% for Him or not at all.

Until we meet again, I would like you to read Revelation 3:15-22. What is God saying to you in these verses? What is He impressing on your heart? Today is about willingness and change. It starts here. The boiling water represents His way of molding you into His likeness. The hardness of the carrots is our flesh, who we are in this world. By soaking ourselves in Him, we become softer. Not softer in a negative sense but actually stronger. And when we become strong in God, we are able to love those around us. We are able to love unconditionally. What would our world be like if we all chose to jump in?

Swimming alongside of you, Carol