Unless you’ve totally buried your head in the sand, the growing unrest, anxiety, fear, and uncertainty in society hasn’t escaped your notice. Nightly the news, social media, and alternative media sources carry the headlines about unrest, protest, violence, death, and war. For so long, many have tried to dismiss the growing lawlessness as just more visible because of our 24/7 connected world instead of accepting the fact that entire societies are descending into a seeming dark abyss.
In Matthew 24, a chapter rich in prophetic promises of Jesus concerning the events leading up to the end of human history, we find this promise: And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12 ESV) As a student of the Scripture and a devoted follower of Jesus, I watch the events unfolding in the world around me through a Biblical lens. More than once lately I have found myself growing hardened against the heart wrenching reality of where society is heading because of the influx of images, videos, and information about world events. I wonder if you can relate?
As Christ followers, especially in the west, I believe we are at a crossroads where a defining choice must be made. We can allow the events unfolding in our world to stoke fear, hate, anger, and bitterness, or we can respond in a countercultural but Biblical way. We can allow the actions of lost, broken people to make us hardened and cold, or we can fix our eyes on Jesus and humbly ask God for help living as bright lights in an ever darkening world. We can complain, worry, get anxious, and even want to get even, or we can share the incredible love of Christ with a world that needs the hope of the Gospel now more than ever.
As I thought about this devotion, I felt a great need to challenge myself and those who love Jesus. We can either talk about the love of Christ, or we can actually allow His love to infuse our thoughts, words, and actions. The enemy is content to allow us to become a tool he uses to perform his dastardly work (see John 10:10), or we can live in the abundant life and freedom of Christ. The question remains… in an ever more polarized, divided, hate filled world, how can we guard our hearts against growing cold? Here are a few practical, Biblical tips I hope will help as we eagerly await the coming of our King.
- Abide in Christ (see John 15:4-5) – We desperately need to intentionally, regularly, and expectantly spend time with Jesus. We need to spend time in His Word, time in private worship, and time in intentional prayer.
- Fix our eyes on Jesus (see Hebrews 12:1-2) – A.W. Tozer famously remarked: “Anything that keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, no matter how harmless it might seem.” We need to limit (or even eliminate) our time consuming things that fill us with worry, anxiety, and fear. Instead, let us fix our eyes on Jesus.
- Come to Jesus for rest (see Matthew 11:28, Hebrews 4:16, and 1 Peter 5:7) – As time progresses, every true follower of Jesus must humbly draw near to Christ as they seek the rest, peace, joy, and contentment that only Jesus can give. When we draw near, we should expect God to keep His promises to give us rest for our souls, mercy and grace to help us in our time of need, and His care to help us with our anxieties.
- Get plugged in to a Biblical, Christ centered church (see Hebrews 10:24-25) – Each of us desperately needs to be plugged into a local, Biblical, Christ centered church. None of us are called to be “lone ranger Christians.” The Church is a source of strength, encouragement, and accountability that all of us need to grow and mature as believers. If we aren’t in Church, we are walking in sin and opposition to the Word of God.
As you walk away from this devotion, I want to challenge you: Do you feel yourself growing cold? If so, as Christ followers we can confess and turn from our sin (see 1 John 1:9). May God give you grace and strength to recognize the condition of your heart and the times in which we live. Know that today my prayer is that God would bless, strengthen, and convict each of us so we can continue walking in Christ love and power as a beautiful testimony to a world that desperately needs the hope that only Jesus can give.
