Shedding Light, Spreading Warmth

Cold, wet nights; time to get the fires lit. I live in an end-terrace, which makes it that little bit colder, though quieter. I noticed yesterday that the heat from my fire has permeated the poorly insulated Victorian interior and left its mark on the outside wall. The rainwater must have evaporated away leaving a relatively dry outline, a modest chiaroscuro.

It was certainly cold that night, yet the heat within warmed the wall without. This isn’t good for my home’s fuel efficiency- I would prefer my wood heated the parlour and not the alley beyond- but it does make an interesting picture. Despite our cold and aching bodies, the Holy Spirit within cannot but radiate His warmth and joy through our ailing flesh into the cold world beyond. A back alley in Lancashire was invisibly heated this week, yet darker, danker corners of this fallen world are heated- and illuminated- by your presence there.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ.