“I know your deeds, that you are neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Revelation 2:15-18 NIV

So are you hot, cold, or lukewarm?  I’m not talking about your body temperature, I’m talking about your relationship with Christ.  I hope that you are blazing hot.  I hope that you are just on fire with the love you have for Jesus Christ.  I hope that you have put him first in your life.  I hope this, because in this scripture passage, we are told that lukewarm is just not good enough.  We are told that if we are found to be lukewarm that God will spit us out of his mouth.

Now if you are cold, this means that you have no relationship with Christ and I hope, that if this is the case, you establish one before it’s too late.  You see I know what a lukewarm Christian looks like because I used to see one every time I looked in the mirror.  I did just enough that I thought would get me by.  Truth be told, if I had died during that time in my life, I probably would have been destined for hell.  I spent my obligatory Sunday morning in church at least 2-3 times a month.  I was really busy having fun, so I didn’t have a lot of time to read my bible.  My prayers were more like 911 calls when I needed something. I tried not to do anything too bad, you know I didn’t want to commit any really big sins.  I just committed those little ones with a big one thrown in every now and then.  I thought that God would look the other way.  It took me years to realize that there are no little sins and God never overlooks our sinful living.

When I began to study my Bible, I realized that God provides some awesome things for us, but there are qualifiers.  Like in Romans 8:28, we are told that everything will work out for our good, IF we love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.  In Psalm 91:1 we are told that IF we dwell in the shadow of the Most High that we can rest in the shelter of the Almighty.  We get the good stuff, if we do our part.  I just wasn’t doing my part, so I wasn’t getting the good stuff.  My “good times” had turned into disaster.  So I got involved in church.  I began attending regularly.  I began Bible study.  I helped out on workdays.  But still my life was a disaster.  I had gone from cold to lukewarm and things had just gotten worse.  You see God was spitting me out of his mouth.  I was probably making him sick with my half-hearted commitment.  I was willing to do everything he wanted me to do, but I was not willing to let go of my sin.  I had some sin in my life that I was clinging to like a life preserver connected to a boat out in the sea.  I just didn’t think I could let it go.  I had all kinds of excuses and I thought some of them were pretty good.  But God just wouldn’t have it.  He wouldn’t bless me until I got right with Him.

It all happened very quickly.  I told God that I wanted to let go of my sin and that I was trusting Him to help me do it.  Within a few hours, it was like a big old crane with a wrecking ball attached.  He abolished my sinful life and took it down to the slab.  He helped me rebuild it brick by brick.  He took all my excuses away and worked everything out for me.  It was amazing!

I can tell you that once he did that, I was like a baby Christian learning to walk.  I was amazed at what He had done, but I knew that I never wanted to be cold or lukewarm again.  The warmth of the fire inside of me for Jesus Christ was better than anything I could have imagined.  I am still learning, still growing and He’s still building.  But I have learned to trust Him wholeheartedly.  And by the way, those promises with qualifiers, well they hold true.  God is true to His word.

So if you are living a life that is cold or just lukewarm, call out to God to help you remove that sin from your life.  If He is rebuking you, it is only because He loves you. He also says that he stands at the door and knocks and that anyone who hears his voice and opens the door, He will dine with them and they will dine with Him. (Revelation 2:19-20).

If you are like me, you have been standing there listening to Jesus knock on the door long enough.  Open that door and invite him in.  Open up that wonderful world that is waiting for you as a child of God.  I promise you, you will never regret it!

Have a great day!