Now before I begin this blog I must first give all the love to Jason Gilbo. A former pastor here in Oklahoma that provoked this idea. So this is not my own thought but very much a rip off of his idea and concept. Though it is worth sharing with you so here it goes.

It is very interesting to think about the difference in thermometers and thermostats. Though the two very much do some the same thing at the foundation of what they are. At its most basic function both tell us what the current temperature is. When we have that night time sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so we can't sleep feeling; one of the first thing most of us will do is reach for a thermometer to see if we truly do have a fever and need medicine.

  The same is true when you get up in the morning and you feel that chill come over you and you think to yourself, "man it really feels cold in here." Your next move will most like be to add clothing and then go check your thermostat to see if your sense is correct.

Though these basic functions are very much the same the end result is very different. The thermometer can only tell you that you do for sure have a fever and therefore are sick. That’s it. In a few days or hours it might be able to let you know that your fever has passed meaning that you are getting better or at least your medication is working. The thermostat on the other hand tells you that yes your sense of it being cold is correct and now you need to turn up the heat so that the atmosphere can change. You see the thermostat can go one step further and actually change the situation. Now sometimes the thermostat can be set in such a way that it over compensates making the atmosphere too cold or hot, but when used correctly can make an impact of change.
So the question simply becomes which one are you? Are you a thermometer that is always letting everyone know that they are well or sick; or are you a thermostat that actually helps to bring about change to an uncomfortable situation?

  I recently surveyed about 10 HS students to ask them how well they felt our ministry did at welcoming new people. Sadly they gave us 2.5 out of 10. Not so good...... Ok really bad. BUT then I asked them to score themselves on how well they feel they do at welcoming new people and they gave themselves a score of 3 out of 10. They were more than willing to be very harsh with their words towards our ministry and how awful it was and how snobby our people were, yet they were doing nothing to improve it. They had become unhelpful thermometers rather than trying to be thermostats.

 As you go about your day which one will you be? Don't just talk about darkness but shine into it! Matthew 5:14-16