What is life like in Colorado?

Coloradans who embrace the outdoors can connect with what I am about to describe.  There is a feeling that comes on a sunny summer day up in the mountains as you begin a hike, feeling alive with good health and experiencing the chill of the air so much a byproduct of the altitude.  As you walk through the canopy of trees on the trail, you enjoy the increased heart rate as you climb, perhaps hearing the sounds of birds or chipmunks and having sensory overload as you walk through a flower-bedecked meadow or catch a glimpse at the first majestic, snow-covered mountain.  You may see a stream rushing with water the result of the melt-off of the snow.  You smell the penetrating odor of conifers and other tree and plant life.  Taken together, these God-produced sights, sounds, and smells are enough to leave you feeling refreshed.  The purity of undisturbed nature paints a picture of God's power and love.

 

A Christian has the potential to bear that unique aroma (cf. Phil. 4:18), that lovely appearance (cf. Isa. 52:7; Phil. 4:8), and clarion sound (cf. 1 Cor. 14:8).  Our presence in a room should make a noticeable difference, not that we draw attention to ourselves but that our distinctiveness is seen, heard, and felt by our Christlikeness.  When people expect pride but they see meekness and humility, when they expect vulgarity but they are met with pure speech, when they brace for retaliation but they are met with forgiveness and understanding, when they are stuck in the darkness but are met with light, it is so often refreshing to them.  No, many will not appreciate it (cf. Titus 1:15), but those worthwhile will.  They will see the purity of true, Christian living, borne out in the attitude, the speech, and the conduct, as a breath of fresh air!  May we order our lives that people see that in us today and every day!  --Neal Pollard