ICE CUBES IN BOILING WATER
by Jeff Knight
Put an ice cube on the counter, what do you get? A puddle. Put it in boiling water, what do you get? More boiling water. An ice cube must be surrounded in the right environment, 100% of the time!
My life is no different. If you put me in a mediocre world, you'll get a mediocre run-of-the-mill ordinary man. My surroundings and environments determine who/what I can become. There is no escaping it.
I grew up in a home that had no recollection of the Lord until I was eight years old. At that point, mom and dad found Jesus as their savior and we started attending church. A few months later, I asked Jesus into my heart. I was the product of my surroundings. I know countless people who believed in God as a child simply because mom and dad did, there's nothing wrong with that.
When I became a teen it was the first time I recall questioning my faith, but not in a way like I wanted to rebel and live a different way, I wanted to know why I believed what I believed. It was also the first time in my life where I had teachers and influences challenging what I believed, why I believed. As I went to college it was the first time it seemed like there were a lot more people around me that didn't believe. As I grew it was tougher and tougher to know what I needed to know and be who I needed to be because my surroundings had changed drastically. Until the day I surrounded myself with true purpose. When I grabbed onto God's purpose for my life all the influences changed, so did my surroundings.
Back to the ice cube. The ice cube is never ready for the boiling water! It must not jump in! The ice cube is never ready for room temperature. Likewise, I am never ready to be surrounded by a bunch of mediocrity. I am never prepared for it. If I venture to the wrong environment I better tell someone where I'm going because more than likely I'll not be coming back the same!
So what am I saying in this post? I am saying that who you spend your time with, where you spend your time at; both determine your future. Paul said it this way, "Bad company corrupts good character." It's the truth. I must continuously be aware of who I am surrounding myself with, or I better watch out because the essence of what I am will change when the heat gets turned up.
