One of the hardest verses in the Bible ... at least to me. I can't imagine having a written letter from the Lord telling me:
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16)
This Laodicean church was the only one of the seven churches in Asia Minor who received no word of encouragement from the Lord. Can you imagine being a church and yet not having anything going on that was found to be pleasing to the Lord?
Just realizing that makes me want to examine my own life. If Jesus wrote me a letter, would He find something to offer as encouragement? Would He see something good in me that He could point out specifically and commend me for?
I doubt the Church at Laodicea expected to receive a rebuke like they did. After all, they were busy doing "deeds". That means they weren't just doing nothing. They were doing things, but the things they were doing were a mixture of hot and cold which, when mixed together produced a lukewarmness that was found to be "spewable" to the Lord. And, perhaps that's really what we need to be looking for.
Luke 24:32 gives us an example of "hot": "They asked each other 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?'"
Matthew 24:12 references "cold": "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold".
Laodicea most likely attempted to appear "hot" with busyness but they were motivated by a "cold" heart. The result was lukewarmness that warranted Jesus' harsh words of rebuke.
The Word of God is our "thermometer". Let's use it to take our spiritual temperature. Are our works hot but motivated by a heart that's turned cold? If so, we, too, could be rebuked for our lukewarmness.
Romans 12:11 describes how we, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, should measure up when we take our "spiritual temperature": "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."
Father, show me any coldness within me. Help me to maintain my spiritual fervor in loving you, serving you, and obeying you. Teach me, Lord, how to please you, how to keep that fire burning within my heart even when the hard things in life come upon me. Oh, Lord, I long to live pleasing to You. I don't want to be "hot" in deeds but "cold" in my relationship with You. Ignite the embers of my heart, fan the flame, so I can burn with passion and zeal for You. I love You, Lord … in Jesus' name, amen!
"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:5-6)
© 2008 Jan Ross
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Monday, August 25, 2008
Taking Our Spiritual Temperature
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2 comments:
Wow, Jan. I can't believe this! This is the exact verse that the Lord has laid on my heart to write a devo about. My husband and I were just discussing and praying over the "lukewarm" thing. We tend to think that lukewarm is right where Satan wants us as Christians. It is there that all kinds of things in society creep in, like a slow-spreading terminal disease. What incredible insights and challenges for all of us to examine in this post. Thank you.
This has been on my heart, too. We know how the Lord feels about hot and cold; the lukewarm temperature of the Laodicean church made Him want to spew them out of His mouth!
The enemy's best plan, I think, for Christians is to try an neutralize us. Satan has lost us (Christians) for eternity, so he'd like to render us useless for furthering God's kingdom.
We must zealously guard our hearts from growing cold and from accepting compromise.
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