One More Degree

“Discern what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God” — Romans 12:2.

The water in a steam engine’s boiler may be in three conditions. First, the boiler may be full and the water clean and clear. Second, the boiler may be full and the water hot—so hot that it could scald you, almost boiling. Third, it may be just one degree hotter and already boiling. Then it sends out clouds of steam, pressing through the valves and driving the mighty piston that turns the wheels and carries the train across the country.

In the same way, there are three kinds of Christians. We may call the first cold-water Christians, or perhaps better, clean-water Christians.

The second are hot-water Christians. They are almost at boiling point.

One more degree brings us to the third group: boiling-water Christians. The difference is very small. It takes only the surrender of one reservation, the dropping of one “if,” the removal of even a slight trace of resistance—and yet it makes all the difference in the world. That one degree turns the engine into a driving force. It is no longer something to look at, but something that moves forward.