And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matt. 24:12-14
Lord Jesus, this is a sobering warning, indeed—“The love of many will grow cold.” What could be worse than to lose, leave or leak the love we have for you? When the fire of affection for you chills, then all of our other relationships suffer as well.
We become critical and cynical, instead of compassionate and kind-hearted. We keep indelible records of the ways people hurt and fail us, instead forbearing with and forgiving one another. We become fragile or hard, insecure or indifferent. We despise weakness in others, while denying our own. We marginalize the needs of others, while maxi-sizing our own. We don’t care for the poor, because we lose our own poverty of spirit. Have mercy on us, Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.
May I never stop singing (and meaning) the last line in the hymn “O Sacred Head Now Wounded”: “Should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love for thee.” That’s my earnest, impassioned prayer, Jesus. I don’t fear losing my salvation. I’ll stand firm to the end because of my standing in grace. But what could be worse than for my love for you to cool down, degree by degree, as I get older? Don’t let that happen to me, Jesus. Don’t let that happen. What could be worse than to finish the race with an ingrown, isolated, icy heart?
I do not and will not trust in my love for you, but only in your love for me. I love you, Jesus, only because you first loved me and gave yourself as a sacrifice of atonement—as a judgment-exhausting propitiation for my sins. It’s impossible for you to love me more than you do in this moment, and you are committed to never loving me less. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Holy Spirit, breathe upon the embers of my heart and rekindle the love I first had for Jesus when the gospel of grace was first applied to my heart—when nothing else mattered, when I felt so clean, new and free. Come, Holy Spirit, come in fire and effect. Preach the gospel to my heart today—right now, as though it was the very first time I heard and believed the good news. Give me your fresh power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is—the only love that is better than life, the only love that is enough. (Eph. 3:18; Psalm 63:3) So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ kind and powerful name.
