The Ice Hotel
In January 2001 Canada ’s first Ice Hotel was opened. That's right – Ice Hotel.
The hotel is constructed of 12,000 tons of snow and 400 tons of ice covering more than 30,000 square feet. It has ceilings over 18 feet high, walls covered with original artwork, and furnishings carved out of ice blocks. The Ice Hotel Quebec-Canada is composed of 32 rooms and theme suites, two ice art galleries, a magnificent ice chapel, two exhibition areas, an ice cinema, and an immense lobby with an ice chandelier lit by fiber optics. The four-foot thick walls are ice. The floors are ice.
The ceilings are ice. The furniture and the decorations are made of ice.Yes, even the BEDS are ice! If you get too cold in this environment, you can warm yourself in one of the hotel’s Jacuzzis or stand by one of its functional fireplaces.
Guests may spend the night in an individually designed ice room, snuggled up in thick polar sleeping bags, on deer pelts and mattress over the illuminated ice bed. Visitors are invited to look around the hotel and marvel at the different themed rooms. They must be careful of the impressive sculptures dotted around the place – one may bump into a huge ice bear or American Indian, even a frozen Statue of Liberty!
Reservations are limited – not only by the number of rooms (32 rooms and suites with a capacity to accommodate more than 84 people per night), but also by the time frame that the hotel is open. You see, you can only make reservations for The Ice Hotel from early January to April 1st, because after that, it begins to melt...*
Like the fabulous Ice Hotel, we understand from the Scriptures that this WORLD with its powers and values is passing away (see 1 John 2:15-17).
And one day – “the Day of the Lord” – “the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will "melt" with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up”
(2 Peter 3:10). This world is temporary, to be replaced with “a new heaven and
earth” (2 Peter 3:13) conforming to God's desire.
Therefore, “since everything will be destroyed in this way,” Peter asks, “What kind of people ought you to be?” (2 Peter 3:11). His answer: “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:11-12 NIV). He calls us to live here and now by the values of that new era, rather than expending all our time and energy on things so impermanent. In short, God wants us to be Christians, for only Christians will live eternally with Him in the place “in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).
Jesus paid the price so that you can receive this ETERNAL inheritance if you will: believe and trust Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from your sin in repentance (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), be baptized (immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), and live faithfully to Him until He comes (Revelation 2:10).
The Ice Hotel presents a challenge: Are WE expending our time and energy on things that will soon "melt" away?
“The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
Won’t YOU do the will of God?
God bless you!
Handsome Indeed!
Abraham Lincoln was admired by many, but he also had many critics. But even persistent critics in the Government, like Pennsylvania's Thaddeus Stevens,
sometimes praised the President's benevolence.
House Speaker Schuyler Colfax recalled that Stevens "used to tell, with great gusto, this story of his own personal experience. Mr. Stevens had gone with an elderly lady from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (his district), to the White House, to ask the pardon of her son, condemned to die for sleeping on his post. The President suddenly turned upon his cynical Pennsylvania friend, whom he knew had so often assailed him for excessive lenity, and said, 'Now, Thad, what would you do in this case if you happened to be President?'”
“Mr. Stevens knew how many hundreds of his constituents were waiting breathlessly
to hear the result of that elderly woman's pilgrimage to Washington. Of course, Congressmen who desired to be re-elected liked to carry out the desires of their constituents. Stevens did not relish the President's home-thrust, but replied that,
as he knew of the extenuating circumstances, he would certainly pardon him.”
“‘Well, then,’ said Mr. Lincoln, after a moment's writing in silence, ‘here, madam, is your son's pardon.’
“Her gratitude filled her heart to overflowing, and it seemed to her as though her son had been snatched from the gateway of the grave. She could only thank the President with her tears as she passed out, but when she and Mr. Stevens had reached the outer door of the White House she burst out, excitedly, 'I KNEW it was a lie! I KNEW it was a lie!'”
“‘What do you mean?’ asked her astonished companion.
“Why, when I left my country home in old Lancaster yesterday, the neighbors told me that I would find that Mr. Lincoln was an UGLY man, when in fact... he is really the most handsome man I have ever seen in my life!’”
“And certainly, when sympathy and mercy lightened up those rugged features, many a wife and mother pleading for his intervention had reason to think him handsome indeed."*
Interestingly, the Scriptures do not contain an exact description of the physical appearance of Jesus Christ. Perhaps it is a prophecy given some 700 years before His birth that provides the closest thing to a portrait: “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2).
Yet, many would describe Jesus as the most handsome Man that has ever lived. Why?
Because Jesus died so that we might live! (1 Thessalonians 5:10). He paid the price for our sins on the cross so that we may have forgiveness and the hope of eternal life if we accept His offer on His terms.
Jesus will save those who: believe in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). His redeeming blood will continue to cleanse those who continue to walk in the light of
His Word (1 John 1:7).
And certainly, when God’s mercy is understood and accepted, many have reason to think Him handsome indeed!
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