Today I went to church and sat down, and saw a man sitting all alone. I had never seen there before. He looked like he was perhaps a poor man. No one else seemed even remotely interested in talking to him. So I went over to welcome him. He was a quiet sort of fellow. I spent some time just listening to him and had a nice conversation with him. In fact, he seemed surprised that I took the time to meet him and learn his name. Then on the way back to my seat, the Holy Spirit told me, Go look up Matthew 24:12. So I did. It says, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
Wow, was that verse ever right on. How we tend to love the lovely, but if someone doesn’t look just right, or dress just right, or smell just right, we look the other way. It’s easy to say, Let someone else love them. When Jesus used the term “wax cold”, I believe he actually had wax in mind. When wax is warm, it’s soft and pliable. But when it’s cold, it’s hard, like a brick.
 And the same can be said for our heart. When love is there, the heart is soft and pliable. When love is there, you can love the unlovely. But when love is not there, the heart is cold and hard, just like a block of cold wax.
However, there is hope even for cold wax. You can poke a hole in the middle of it and stick in a wick, and light it. The resulting flame produces heat and light. Just as Jesus is light and He melts even the coldest heart, the flame and heat of the candle softens the cold wax near the flame.
Take a lesson today from the candle. Let the light and warmth of Jesus’ love melt your heart and make it soft and pliable, so it can love the unlovely. Don’t let your love “wax cold”.