Lukewarm

In Revelation 3:15-17 (KJV) Jesus says in His message to the Church of Laodicea "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Jesus goes on to encourage the people of that Church to repent in verses 18-22.

In the above scripture Jesus is advising the people of Laodicea that spiritually they are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm. Let's take a moment to consider the term lukewarm so we can grasp the importance of Jesus choosing to use this word in His analogy. Have you ever taken a sip of  hot coffee, and discovered that it is no longer hot, but is lukewarm? The taste diminishes greatly and you no longer get the full flavor, and enjoyment you were getting, when the coffee was hot. Have you ever taken a sip of  ice tea, and discovered it had grown lukewarm? The same thing applies here the tea is watered down, and no longer tasteful, or enjoyable to you. The best example yet may be a big glass of lukewarm water, who doesn't love the taste of  that?

Now that we have contemplated how bad lukewarm coffee, tea, and water can taste let me ask you this, have you ever had anything taste so bad that you literally spewed it out of your mouth? I'm sure many, if not all of you have had this experience at one time or another. Think about how horrible something has to taste for you to spew it out of your mouth. As adults, something must taste horrendous before we take that drastic of a measure.

Jesus uses the term lukewarm to describe the believers in the Church of Laodicea, and He states that He will spew them out of  His mouth. This shows us what a powerful distaste He has for their behavior, and their attitudes. They said of themselves that they were rich, and had everything they needed. They had been saved, and were attending Church services, and in their opinion they were living the good life. What they failed to realize is that spiritually they were, as described by Jesus  wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. They were lukewarm believers. They were straddling the fence between living worldly, and living Godly lives, and this is not acceptable to our Lord and Savior. Jesus states that he would rather the people be cold or hot than to be lukewarm. The reason for this is, if someone is cold they are easier to reach than someone lukewarm and confident that they have everything under control, and if someone is hot then they're spirit is on fire for God, and that of course is ideal.

In order to please God and  receive all the blessings He desires to rain down upon us, and to have the joy, peace, and contentment He wants for us, we cannot be lukewarm believers. Are you on the fence? Are you living your life divided between worldly ways, and Godly ways? Do you go to Church on Sunday praising God and behaving in an on fire manner, and then live the remainder of the week lukewarm? Do watch, listen to, and participate in things that you know are in opposition to Godly living? Do you say and do things that you know God would not approve of? I would like to encourage you to examine your way of living and to ask yourself if  it's worldly, if  it's Godly, or if it's a little bit of both. Are you a lukewarm believer?

We all have areas of weakness that need work, because we are only human, and God understands that. However, we can't allow ourselves to become complacent, failing to work on the issues in our lives that need addressing. If you are living your life divided between worldly behavior and Godly behavior, I encourage you to change that immediately. Get off the fence, and live your life in a manner that you know will be pleasing to God. He will bless you abundantly, and you will be happier than you have ever been. Unfortunately, many people have the idea that living a Godly life is boring. Let me testify to you now that those people are sadly mistaken. I can tell you firsthand that it is quite the opposite.

If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.