FBC Hanover Youth: June 2011

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Are you stuck in the middle?

“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).

Goldilocks was hungry.

She tasted the porridge from the first bowl.

“This porridge is too hot!” she exclaimed.

So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.

“This porridge is too cold,” she said.

So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.

“Ahhh, this porridge is just right,” she said happily and she ate it all up.

According to Goldilocks, being lukewarm is just right. But what is good for porridge isn’t good for our spiritual lives. Jesus tells us that “because you are lukewarm … I am about to spit you out of my mouth”! That’s strong language. What’s so bad about being “lukewarm”?

Notice how our passage from Revelation 3:15-16 begins: “I know your deeds.” The focus here is on what we do, because our outward actions reflect the condition of our inner hearts (James 2:17).

It’s easy to see why someone should be “hot”, passionate for God and His word. When Jesus clears the temple, kicking out the money changers and merchants, “His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’” (John 2:17) Jesus demonstrated his zeal by helping the poor, curing the sick, encouraging the discouraged and preaching God’s word to those who had lost hope.

But what about being “cold”? Jesus says that being cold is still better than being lukewarm because of something else Jesus preached against: hypocrisy. It’s hypocritical to be halfheartedly seeking God.

Has your spiritual life felt “lukewarm” lately? Has your relationship with God become routine, or even boring? If so, perhaps it’s time to seek a revitalized relationship with the God who yearns for your passionate commitment.

{Author Darren Hewer}