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I would love it if my morning coffee stayed hot. Or at least until I drank it.

The facts of life (and the laws of thermodynamics) tend to agree that we cannot heat something enough for it to stay hot. If someone could invent such a reality, he would be wealthy in an instant—and I would be grateful as I sip my morning coffee without having to rewarm it. But as every morning-hot-coffee-drinker knows, heat dissipates upon removal from the source of heat.

Without constant and intimate contact with God, His Holy Spirit, and His Word, a Christian’s flame also begins to flicker and his passion to wane. To be a shining light in a stormy, threatening world, believers must remain near their spiritual heat source.

Jesus says we must abide (dwell, remain, persevere) in Him just as smaller grapevines must remain attached to the main vine to draw strength, nutrition, viability—and ultimately, to bear fruit. Anything choking or restricting the spiritual supply from the Vine stunts our growth, dims our light, and reduces our effectiveness. The caution is clear: Without Me, you can do nothing. Without Him, we lose our heat.

Believers cannot remain warm apart from our Heat Source. Jesus tells us we are salt and light and are to win the lost and make disciples. We are encouraged to pray without ceasing, to abide in Him, and to set our minds on things above. Yet in the face of our spiritual enemy—as the cares of this world choke our attachment with the Vine and as our spiritual passion subtly erodes—we falter along the way, lose our warmth, and need reheating.

We can avoid the need for reheating by fanning the flames with daily readings in God’s Word, by turning up the heat with constant engagement with His Spirit, and by staying near the Heat Source through a continual awareness of His presence.

So, remove all restrictions choking your spiritual vitality, pull up a chair next to His fire, and absorb His wondrous, perpetual heat. Now, if you will excuse me, my coffee needs reheating.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)