Matthew 24:12 – And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
THEME OF THE DAY: WARNING SIGNS OF A COLD HEART. It can happen with ease and occurs in a short period of time. But it does give some warning signs before it arrives. Too often, though, because the signs are subtle, they are easily ignored. And if they are ignored, the arrival into our hearts of the greatest spiritual danger facing us will certainly come. The result will be a damaged testimony for the Lord Jesus and a shipwrecked spiritual life that has run aground on the joyless shoals of worldliness, discontent, and dissatisfaction. This danger? Jesus identifies it in today’s scripture – a cold heart. Such a condition is not only dangerous, but sad. It cheapens the Gospel. It presumes upon God’s love and grace. It ignores the sacrifice of Christ. But this is not a “gloom and doom” Monday nugget. Instead, we want to encourage by arming ourselves with knowledge of the three warning signs leading to a cold heart. If we stay alert to them, we can defeat them before they chill our hearts to the things of the Lord. The three warning signs are associated with the three most important areas of our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ; His Word, prayer, and His church.
The first warning sign that our hearts are growing spiritually cold is when time in our Bibles to seek the Lord Jesus is not a daily discipline of delight, but a hit and miss, rushed time easily ignored. If we can neglect daily time in His Word, and it leads to multiple missed days of meeting the Lord in His Word, this is a serious red flag we must see. Keep this up and spiritual disaster in the form of a cold heart will come. Yes, I know. There are people who say, “I cannot read my Bible every day. I have a lot of responsibilities in my home, at work, and other obligations.” Don’t go there. It simply isn’t true. Let me ask. Do we go throughout our days being so busy we don’t eat meals? Do we go days not eating food because of our schedules? No. We don’t. And Job said, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). And Jesus told us, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Matthew 4:4). The first indication a cold heart is starting to take hold in us is neglect of the Bible.
A second warning sign that our hearts are growing spiritually cold is our prayer lives. Prayer is God’s gift of communication from Him in order for us to know and experience Him. Yes, prayer is hard work, but it is a delightful hard work. And it is hard only in the context of the warfare involved to practice close prayer with the Lord. We must work to say “no” to the flesh, the world, and the devil. Prayer is to be a priority and pleasure in the Christian. When it is not, a cold heart is starting to settle in. Prayer is the lifeblood of the Christian life. If we find ourselves neglecting time alone with God in prayer, lacking desire and practice of prayer with other Christians, and don’t have a growing desire for prayer, a cold heart is growing within us. Soon, prayer will simply be a mechanical, mindless exercise offered over meals and at bedtime, never bringing us to encounters with the Lord.
The final warning sign a cold heart is happening in us will be our attitude and faithfulness to our churches. For the healthy Christian, the Lord’s Day is the height of the week. It should be looked upon with anticipation, expectation, and preparation. Think about it. Our Lord’s Days are family gatherings to worship, hear from the Lord through His preached Word and be a foretaste of heaven. If we can easily prioritize and substitute worldly events over faithful attendance to the Lord in His house on His day, a chilling of the heart is occurring. If we can absent ourselves from the one day of the week the Lord designates is His by placing self-interests and self-fulfillment above Him, a chilling of the heart is occurring.
A cold heart. It doesn’t have to happen. God has given all things necessary to prevent such a condition; His Son, His Spirit and His Word, but it all begins with being alert to the warning signs of an approaching cold heart. May the Lord help watch diligently for them.
PRAYER: “Father, help me guard my heart from waxing cold due to sin and spiritual neglect.”
QUOTE: “When sin is not quickly recognized and fought against, it will chill our affections for Jesus.”