I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold, I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15-16
John wrote this message to the church at Laodicea as a warning but it is also filled with hope. The people of the church said, "I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing! (vs. 17a) They were like the church at Ephesus, they had abandoned God and became comfortable.
Laodicea was known as the lukewarm church. According the Halley's Bible Handbook Laodicea was a banking center, proud of its wealth. Beautified with resplendent temples and theatres. Noted for its manufacture of rich garments of black glossy wool; and a medical school that made powder for treatment of eye troubles.
It is easy to sit back and judge such a church. The fact of the matter is there are Christians who sit in a church just like this today. When we gain the riches of the world and have everything we want it is easy to turn away from God. Sometimes we think we have it all together. This is often when we become comfortable and then before we realize it we soon become complacent. Thinking we don't need anything else could not be further from the truth. Even when we are on top of the world we will always need Jesus.
We can wear all the finest of clothing and our comfy clothes that include all the Christian apparel looking as if we have it all. This type of clothing will never properly hide what is truly underneath. Sometimes we even display all the expensive jewelry or crosses as if that is a good representation of our love for Jesus. The truth is we are known by our love not the way we look. Looks can be deceiving!
There are many remedies for our eyes such as artificial tears for dry eyes, Visine that clears up the red eyes, and eyedrops for pick eye (antibiotics). These are all great, but they will never prevent us from going blind to the fact that we are lukewarm. This is critical!
We are no different from the Laodiceans when we are lukewarm. We need to be either hot (preferably) or cold rather than lukewarm. Just reading the words since you are lukewarm I will spit you out is very unsettling. Here are a few ideas that have helped me when I have been lukewarm.
Before I dive right back into Scripture I believe music and movies also encourage us. Have you seen the movie War Room? If the answer is yes, this is still a great reminder. Miss Clara (Karen Abercrombie offers a cup of coffee to Elizabeth Jordan (Priscilla Shirer) and it is lukewarm. You can tell she wants to spit the coffee out by the face she makes and asks Miss Clara how her coffee is. She replies," my coffee is hot" making the point no one likes it lukewarm - not even the Lord as she snickers while going back into the kitchen to get Elizabeth a hot cup of coffee. If you would like to listen to a song I recommend "Soul On Fire."
The apostle Paul tells us: the genuineness of your faith is more precious than gold; it is tested by fire - 1 Peter 1:7. If we find ourselves boasting about our wealth, what we really need is genuine faith that is more valuable than material wealth. This is how we become rich.
If we become prideful showing of all our finest clothing we can always put our hope in Jesus and be forgiven. He will also offer white garments to cover up our spiritual nakedness. This is provided to cover up our shame (Revelation 3:18).
Today we have modern medicine to heal our eyes and technology that can correct our eyesight. I'll admit man has come along way, but Jesus has the power to open up our spiritual eyes so we are able to see when we are lukewarm.
Today I encourage you to deepen your relationship with God and draw close to Him. Tell Jesus you want a soul that is on fire and ask Him to fan the flame. Then rely on the Holy Spirit working within you; who will show you amazing things and help you to keep the fire burning.
Romans 12:11 says: "Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically." If we are going to be a part of God's army we need to be ready at all times. We should be like children who are in constant training. We need to have a soul on fire and devote ourselves to following Christ. Remember we are either with Him or against Him - Matthew 12:30.