One Pool, Two Dips

One Pool, Two Dips
Dr. John E. Morgan
Dr. John E. Morgan, Pastor-Collinsville Baptist Church

By Dr. John E. Morgan

Pastor–Collinsville Baptist Church

Thanksgiving.  Gulf Shores.

My family alternated years celebrating  Thanksgiving in north Alabama one year and in south Alabama where one of my sisters lives the next year. She had us go out to Gulf Shores several times when she hosted.  My sisters and their families.  Rent some condos.  Have fun.  Lots of kids with us.  Great times.  Great family times.

Except.  Except that the temperature in Gulf Shores could be cool.  And the ocean had already gotten much cooler than that comfortable warm summer water.  That meant that some of the adults and even some of the kids did not get in the water very long.  Or at all.

But I think it is a terrible waste to ever go to the ocean and not get into the water.  I have explained to my wife many times that you can just get in the cold water and after awhile your body gets used to the cold and you don’t notice it.  She has never bought that explanation.  She is quite content to stay on the beach and smile at her husband and children and now grandchildren.

Several of us decided to ignore the cold and get in.  Swim some.  Body surf some.  Play some.  The cold gives you a feeling of exuberance and joy.  The waves always seemed bigger in November.

One day the waves were even better than usual.  We got in and stayed out a long time.  My sisters stood on the shore shivering and telling us we needed to get out.  Being good males, that only made us stay out longer.  One more wave.  And one more.

Finally, we knew we had to get out.  We walked up the beach to the condo trying to decide if our skins were really blue.  There was an indoor pool.  Heated.  We decided that would be perfect.  We jumped into the pool.

Oh, how wonderful.  It felt like a big, warm, water blanket.  We soaked in the warmth for a while.   Played around a little.  Then, since we were in a resort type place, somebody suggested we use some of the other facilities.

We went straight to the sauna.  Then the steam bath.  Stayed in the steam until we reached that point where all our pores were open and had little beads of sweat coming out.  We knew it was time to go back to the room and clean up for a holiday dinner. But we decided on one more dip in that indoor pool.  We all jumped in.

Oh, how wonderful.  It felt like a big, cool, water blanket.  It was the coolest water we could imagine.

Same pool.  Same temperature.  In a thirty minute space it felt wonderfully warm.  And wonderfully cool.

Was the pool water hot or cold?  People coming from the ocean said the water was really warm.  People coming from the sauna said that it was really cool.  Which ones were right?  I suspect the pool had a thermometer.  It probably read that the water was about eighty degrees no matter how the people getting into the pool felt.

It is dangerous to decide an important question based only on how you feel.  Feelings change.  You need an instrument, a standard that can tell you exactly what to do.  Christians decide issues by doing what Christ says to do.  We find what Christ wants us to do in the Bible.  It is our standard, our unchanging guide.  We trust it because we trust Jesus.

Christians are different than the world.  Many years ago people began to believe that if it feels good to you, you should do it.  Christians know that what feels good today may feel bad tomorrow.   The wise thing is to trust Jesus, not our feelings.  Then everything will not be too hot.  Or too cold.  It will be just right.