In Or Out, Pick One

Good Morning!! In our home, temperature is often just one more "hot" topic. In the winter, the thermostat can be too hot for me,...but my wife loves it on the warmer side. I can eat foods straight out of the fridge,...but she likes them steaming hot out of the oven. One extreme or the other tends to dominate in several areas in our home. We are passionate people,...but somehow we've begun to settle for lukewarm as a way of life. Most Christians aren't any better when it come to the things of the Lord? What is your spiritual temperature? How many areas of life have we become content with just being lukewarm,...especially when it comes to living for Jesus?

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 (NIV)

We are so uncomfortable standing out, and speaking out too much. We rationalize our positions by saying that we do not want to offend anyone or come across as too zealous in our faith. We even justify sinful behaviors by telling ourselves that if we blend in with the crowd, then we can be a more effective witness. Where did these ideas really come from? Are they from the Lord? Not according to Revelation 3:16. Jesus says He will "spit" us out of His mouth if we are lukewarm. He wants us to pick a position; we are either cold, or hot,...for Him, or against Him. We either take up our cross and follow Him with our whole hearts, or we follow our own desires.

Living in the gray areas is unacceptable to God,...regardless of our human rationalizations.

Holy Spirit help us. Our churches are filled with complacent Christians who are quite content to live in the gray areas, not wanting to get too uncomfortable.We want to hear "well done good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:23),...and not have Jesus say "I never knew you; depart from Me" (Matthew 7:23). We ask that You light a fire in our hearts today, that will set a blaze in any area of our life that has become lukewarm and complacent. Life here on earth is but for a moment, but eternity is forever. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"Those that kneel before God, can stand against the world."