Posts Tagged: others' sins and our own
“What Makes My Heart so Cold?”
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”(Matthew 24:12, King James Version)
My hands are awfully cold these days. It doesn’t take familiarity with the Eagles song, “The Cheatin’ Side of Town” for me to recognize this simple fact. I am old, and even though my “hands are [not] as cold as ice”, they are pretty cold. Before I hug my wife in the morning, I need to get in the habit of heating up those little microwavable bean bags and hold them in my hands for a minute or so.
But there is another and much more serious problem: Sometimes my heart grows cold. That is not simply a problem in relation to my sweetheart. Of course, it is quite serious there, but a cold heart affects my entire life and all my relationships. It also affects my enjoyment of life.
Jesus said that, in the last days of the world, iniquity would abound and the love of many would grow cold. However, I suspect that Jesus would agree that it wouldn’t take the end of the world for this to be true. In the context of Jesus’ saying that leads off this post (Matthew 14), Jesus tells his disciples about the signs that precede the end of this world. However, the signs are the kinds of things that are always occurring. I think that this is precisely one of the points that Jesus is making: Be ready all the time. The end could come at any time. This is precisely the point of the parables in Matthew 25, so I think that I am good ground here.
I used to think that Jesus was warning his disciples (and us) about other people’s sins and their effect on us. I don’t think so anymore. I think that Jesus was warning his original disciples—and us—about the chilling effects of our own sin.
It is no fun to take Jesus’ words that way. It is much easier to point out and condemn the sins of other people. It’s more fun too.
But my sins are the ones that will freeze my heart. The evil things I think and do, the good things I don’t do—these are the optional winter that I generate. I need to stop opting for spiritual winter. I can’t do a lot about my cold hands, but the temperature of my own heart is in my own hands.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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