Don’t Take My Heat Away
As the chill of autumn sets in, the blankets come out in our house. Katie, my wife, loves them. There are blankets on the sofas, in the office, even on the beds. Around this time every year, we bring out the mock fur blankets — one for the lounge and one for our bedroom. The bedroom one sees us through the winter, but there’s a problem. Katie and I have what I call “heat disparity”. She gets warm quickly, while I seem to take forever to heat up.
One particular night, Katie decided in her sleep that it was a good idea to double up the mock fur blanket over me. I woke up in a sweat — hot, nauseous, overwhelmed. I threw the blanket off and drifted back to sleep, only to wake up twenty minutes later freezing cold. As I looked over at Katie, perfectly heat-regulated, I thought, “Don’t take my heat away.” I pulled the blanket back over myself and returned to glorious, balanced warmth.
Why tell you this? Because recently, while reading Revelation 3:14–22, I realised that Jesus says something similar to the church in Laodicea: “Don’t take my heat away.” In this letter, one of seven written to the churches of Asia Minor, Jesus isn’t addressing persecution or false teaching — He’s addressing indifference.
The church wasn’t hot, burning with passion for God, nor was it refreshingly cold, bringing life to others. It was lukewarm. Comfortable. Apathetic. Jesus tells them, “I know your deeds… you are neither cold nor hot.”
It’s a powerful image, isn’t it? We live in a world where it’s easy to cool down spiritually — to lose our passion, our drive, our heat for the things of God. Work pressures, financial worries, comfort, or even routine can slowly rob us of spiritual warmth.
When I read this passage, I felt convicted. I asked myself, “Have I become indifferent? Have I let my spiritual temperature drop?”
This passage acts as a heat alarm for our souls. It reminds us that Jesus longs for relationship, not ritual; passion, not politeness. He doesn’t want us to freeze over in indifference but to stay alive in His Spirit.
So as the cold draws in and the blankets come out, let’s make sure our faith doesn’t cool off too. Let’s be a people who say to God:
“Don’t take my heat away.”
Keep my heart burning with love for You. Keep my spirit alive to Your presence. Keep my deeds, words, and worship full of warmth and purpose.
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