Avoiding 'chilly' Love

Scripture Verse that Caught my attention today: Matthew 24:12 And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.

Observation: It’s easy to be faithful in times of plenty. It’s a bit more difficult when things aren’t going one’s way.

Application: We’re not big hunters in our family—growing up, the only things I regularly shot were groundhogs. But we do have several acres of woods and, now that our boys are teenagers, we’ve been attempting to hunt deer. I say ‘attempted’ because we have yet to get one. When the gun season opens next week we’ll give it another try.

At any rate, just the other day we learned from a neighbor about an injustice. The other side of our woods runs along a road. Turns out that, when gun season begins (at least last year), some unsavory hunters have been dropping people off at our woods early in the morning and they have been walking through our woods to flush the deer out of our woods to where they can shoot at them! To add a little insult to injury, a couple years ago someone dropped the carcasses of two deer right beside one of the trees that had the “no hunting” sign posted. Real classy.

When I think about people doing such things I must admit, it’s easy for my love to “grow cold.” I’m not hurting anybody. I just want others to stay out of our woods so that our own boys can have a little better chance at success. Plus, I don’t exactly consider it “sport” for one group to flush deer out for others to shoot—though that is a common practice in the area, so much so that the proper/safe way to do so is even taught in hunter safety courses.

Be that as it may, the greater point here is that, as people who claim to follow the crucified and risen one, we are not to let our love grow cold. This is not to say that we shouldn’t strive for justice in the world. Quite the contrary. But even in so doing, it is recognition that it is in no-one’s best interest for wrongs to be done. It cheapens the wrong-doers as much as those who are being wronged. We need not let our love grow cold. Better to just let it grow.

Of course, that’s easier said than done…until, of course, we consider how much God’s love has continued to grow for us.

Prayer: Lord, let us not grow cold in our loving. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(readings today included: Matthew 23-25)