Is It Hot?

Back in the ‘90s, my sister and I visited the island of Dominica in the West Indies. One of its attractions is that it is a volcanic island. There are hot springs, and even a Boiling Lake up in the mountains (too far for us to climb to).

When we returned from the trip, I shared pictures with my co-workers, including the one here. It shows one of the springs where boiling water bubbles up to the surface. The conversation with my co-workers went something like this:

“The water is hot?”

“Yes, it’s boiling.”

“So, it’s hot?”

“Um … yes. People have historically cooked food in the hot springs. You could boil a pork roast in this.”

“So … it’s hot.”

I sat there and scratched my head in puzzlement. I’d said the water was boiling. Boiling means … boiling. They could see it bubbling in the picture. But they patently did not believe that the water could really be as hot as I said it was.

How often do we treat sin the same way?

God says, “It’s hot! It will burn you!”

And we question him: “Really?”

He assures us, “Yes, it’s boiling. You will be scalded!”

But we don’t believe him. Surely, it can’t be that hot.

And so we stick our finger in.