Safe and Warm
The love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:12-13 (NIV)My children often toddle downstairs on cold winter mornings, blankets in tow. They head, not for the TV or the dining room table, but for the fireplace hearth. Then one of them shouts to me, “Mom, please come turn on the fire.”
Usually I am happy to comply. I reach behind the plastic logs and flip the switch that turns on the red light that rotates behind them creating the illusion of fire. Then I flip the second switch that turns on a small electric heater. It creates all the pleasantries of a fire: heat and light, but it provides them safely so that my children can sit on the hearth with their blankets and their books without fearing a stray spark.
Sometimes our Christian life grows cold like Jesus warns in Matthew. We start our walk with Him on fire and eager to share, but as time passes our fire dims and our walk becomes nothing more than a pretty light in the background of our lives. Nice and safe. Falling easily into routine, we shun anything that might stretch us or cause us discomfort. We surround ourselves with friends who see eye-to-eye with us and share our faith but do not challenge it.
Our walk with Christ is to be an adventure. It is a chance to walk with Him through challenges and triumphs, a chance to go beyond what we could ever do in our own power. It is anything but safe.
Dear Lord, let us take every adventure that you place in our path. Help us to step out of the safe zone and step into the great unknown with you. Amen.
By Becky (Wisconsin, USA)
