MATTHEW 24:12 – And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

THEME OF THE DAY. HOW TO PREVENT A COLD HEART. Today’s scripture is taken from what is known as “The Olivet Discourse”. It was one of the last teachings Jesus gave soon before His crucifixion. In its unfolding, our Lord described what would be signs indicating end times were present. One of those signs is today’s scripture. And this sign should make every Christian stop and evaluate their spiritual condition from it. Why? Two reasons. First it is serious because the mark of being a follower of Jesus Christ is love; love for God, for His Word, for the world of lost sinners, and for His people. When love is waning in our hearts and lives, we are losing our “identification card” that Jesus said tells the world we belong to him – love (John 13:34-35). Another reason to evaluate ourselves under the microscope of today’s scripture is because the ease of losing this love; of losing first love for God and all the things of God, and Matthew would tell us why – abounding sin. In a society where God’s law is not only ignored but rebelled against, Christians are not immune to its chilling influence upon their hearts. Unless they are mindful of this influence and fight against it, a cold heart and loss of influence for Christ will occur. But it need not be. Here are two basic and necessary things to ensure our hearts remain aglow with love to God.

First, invest ourselves in a local Bible-believing church. And this investment is not just attending and passively sitting in a pew. Get involved in its body life. We need each other, and God has told us “the church is the pillar of His truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Friends, we cannot be healthy Christians without involvement in the church. God has not made the Christian life to be lived in isolation or individually. The church is His plan and to ignore this is to put ourselves in spiritual danger of a self-deceived heart which will lead to a self-centered cold heart. The following familiar story helps us see this Biblical truth. A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination. As the one lone ember’s flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and “dead as a doornail.” Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said, “Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday.”

Another thing we must do to prevent a cold heart is make daily time with the Lord in prayer and His Word an uncompromised discipline. Even if only for a few minutes, develop our relationship with the Lord daily. To keep our hearts aglow with love for Him, we must be daily keeping ourselves close to Him. Don’t let the busyness of life and demands upon us draw us away from this necessary component of spiritual life. Our “heart temperature” is at stake!

The world is a dangerous place in many ways. One is the subtle, but real, influence it may exert on the believer’s heart and that be chilling it in love for God, His people, His Word and the lost. Let’s stay “close to the fire” to prevent this by committing to His church and the fostering of our relationship with Him.

PRAYER: “Father, thank You that You not only warn me of a possible cold heart, but give me means to avoid it.”

QUOTE: “To keep a heart aglow with love to God we must take with His people an unwavering commitment”