Went to the cafeteria at my working place for lunch, I ran into my old manager who just came back from an overseas assignment for two years.  

“So you are back! Do you like there?” I asked.

“Yes, that place is great, but I need to be back to the cold, right?” He responded. We laughed… I know what he meant by “back to the cold” – it is a cold winter this year and there is more snow than we would like to have.

“Cold winter” may be welcomed by some of you who like to have fun in the snow or ice. Personally, I am not a cold climate person. I don’t particularly like activities under cold weather except the beautiful scenery during the season.

Talking about seasons, an idea dawned on me. I think our hearts are sometimes like changing season – a fervent heart can be like summer time, a cold heart can be like winter and a lukewarm heart can be like the season of spring or the season of fall. Under this view, a person who is having a “cold heart” would be difficult, if not impossible, for us to embrace him since we can’t feel any warmth of care from him. This reminds me of a story that I read before:

A minister was concerned about the absence of a man who had normally attended services. After a few weeks, he decided to visit him. When the pastor arrived at the man’s home, he found him all alone, sitting in front of a fireplace. The minister pulled up a chair and sat next to him. But after his initial greeting he said nothing more.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes while the minister stared at the flames in the fireplace. Then he took the tongs and carefully picked up one burning ember from the flames and placed it on the hearth. He sat back in his chair, still silent. His host watched in quiet reflection as the ember flickered and faded. Before long it was cold and dead.

The minister glanced at his watch and said he had to leave, but first he picked up the cold ember and placed it back in the fire. Immediately it began to glow again with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the minister rose to leave, his host stood with him and shook his hand. Then, with a smile on his face, the man said, “Thanks for the sermon, pastor. I’ll see you in church on Sunday.”

The story tells us a danger of backsliding, if we don’t recognize it. The backsliding may due to various reasons and it will become prevalent at the end of this age, as is indicated by our Lord Jesus. He warned us, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold 「那時，必有許多人跌倒，也要彼此陷害、彼此恨惡，且有好些假先知起來，迷惑多人。只因不法的事增多，許多人的愛心才漸漸冷淡了。」(Matthew 24:10-12)”. From this warning, we learned that people would grow cold-hearted because of the increase of wickedness. If we look around our current world, we could see the coming of increasing wickedness. Isn’t the end of this age near? As Christ’s followers, I certainly hope that we can stand firm and keep our hearts as fervent as possible to the end. Instead of being back “to” the cold, we should be back “from” the cold. At that time, we will be saved and standing in the house of our Lord!

Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.