You're only as good as your thermostat.

It's funny how something so normal to one person can be so outrageous to another. A common joke that I got used to hearing was about how it was always colder outside our house than in. Sometimes it was funny, but other times I felt bad when people came to visit didn't take their jackets off. It took me long enough, but I was recently convinced to get a digital thermometer. I realized that it wasn't just a high-tech toy but would actually save me money.

After installing it (or watching someone else install it), [editors note: Juan installed it himself, I watched him do it - RC] I learned something about temperature. Temperature is only as good as whatever gauges it. What I thought was 60 was actually somewhere around 52. A faulty thermostat can really damage your sense of hot and cold. Likewise, and more importantly, a faulty internal gauge can really damage your sense of right and wrong.

As Christians living in this world we cannot help but stand out. We stand out when don't stay out late on Saturday nights. We stand out when we don't gossip, or laugh at inappropriate jokes. Sometimes we begin to feel like heaven is a sure thing.

It does not take much to be more righteous than the world, or more humble than those that do not know Jesus. As a result, the world can never be our gauge, our thermostat if you will. We have to measure our righteousness as God defines righteousness. We have to measure our love as God defines love. We have to use God; we have to use Christ as our gauge, but only if we *really* want to know the truth.

You know, my house is still cold as many define cold... but now I am aware exactly how cold it really is. Likewise, we will always be a poor match to God's glory but we will me much closer to heaven using Jesus as our pattern than anything else in this world.

Juan