January 12, 2004
Either Cold Or Hot
Read: Revelation 3:14-22
I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. Revelation 3:15
Bible In One Year: Genesis 29-30; Matthew 9:1-17
I like soup when it is steaming hot and a soft drink when it is icy cold. I can't stand either one lukewarm. Jesus has the same attitude toward people who profess to be His children. He detests lukewarmness. He said He wished they would be either cold or hot (Revelation 3:15).
Although some people believe the term cold refers to hostility toward Jesus and the gospel, I don't believe He prefers hostility to halfheartedness. Rather, in His message to the church in Laodicea, Jesus may have had in mind two springs in the regionthe hot mineral springs at Hierapolis and the pure cold water springs in Colosse. The hot springs were seen as having healing powers. The cold springs provided refreshment. The Christians in the church at Laodicea brought neither healing to the spiritually ill nor refreshment to the weary. They were lukewarm and of no help to anyone.
You and I must ask ourselves these questions: Do I provide refreshment to the spiritually weary by bringing them encouragement, joy, and hope? Do I bring healing by challenging the careless, correcting the erring, and motivating the indifferent? Remember, we can't help anybody if we are lukewarm. The Lord wants us either cold or hotwhatever is needed at the moment. Herb Vander Lugt
O God, grant me the strength of heart,
Of motive, and of will
To falter not but do my part
Your purpose to fulfill. Anon.
A half-hearted Christian needs to regain a heart for God.
Either Cold Or Hot
Read: Revelation 3:14-22
I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. Revelation 3:15
Bible In One Year: Genesis 29-30; Matthew 9:1-17
I like soup when it is steaming hot and a soft drink when it is icy cold. I can't stand either one lukewarm. Jesus has the same attitude toward people who profess to be His children. He detests lukewarmness. He said He wished they would be either cold or hot (Revelation 3:15).
Although some people believe the term cold refers to hostility toward Jesus and the gospel, I don't believe He prefers hostility to halfheartedness. Rather, in His message to the church in Laodicea, Jesus may have had in mind two springs in the regionthe hot mineral springs at Hierapolis and the pure cold water springs in Colosse. The hot springs were seen as having healing powers. The cold springs provided refreshment. The Christians in the church at Laodicea brought neither healing to the spiritually ill nor refreshment to the weary. They were lukewarm and of no help to anyone.
You and I must ask ourselves these questions: Do I provide refreshment to the spiritually weary by bringing them encouragement, joy, and hope? Do I bring healing by challenging the careless, correcting the erring, and motivating the indifferent? Remember, we can't help anybody if we are lukewarm. The Lord wants us either cold or hotwhatever is needed at the moment. Herb Vander Lugt
O God, grant me the strength of heart,
Of motive, and of will
To falter not but do my part
Your purpose to fulfill. Anon.
A half-hearted Christian needs to regain a heart for God.
