Hot Or Cold ~ Your Choice!

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

"So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:16, NIV)

This verse in the Bible pretty well lays it out as to how God feels about our actions. Think about it. God is pretty much saying that he would rather us be cold or hot toward him but not neutral. Being "on the fence" is repulsive to Him and he spits us out as if we were something untasty. I don't know about you but that graphic picture really makes me stop and think.

I know I am not "cold." I am a Christian and proud of it. Those that are cold probably do not even realize they are that way. They don't believe and really don't care about God. Even if they are believers they are too caught up in the world to make a difference. They go about their lives without thinking of the eternal consequences. On a lighter note we know that they certainly won't be cold in eternity. (I just had to throw that in).

Being "hot" on the other hand is a world of difference. It is placing God first and foremost in our lives. It is looking at the world and at others as God does. It is placing ourselves into His hands and living life for Him. It is standing tall and worshiping him with all that we are. It is not about us but about Him.

In between we have the lukewarm zone. Too often I think that we feel this is the safe zone. We love God but try to stay neutral. We don't want to upset our friends with too much evangelizing. We don't mind going to church on Sunday but the rest of the week where are our hearts? We sometimes step up when called to do so and serve but sometimes we look on that as a chore. We say we love God but sometimes our actions say differently. Sadly I think sometime I fall into this zone. In fact I would venture to say that most of us do.....

That is the scary part...looking at Revelation 3:16 it is the one place we don't want to be as Christians. It is the most repulsive to God. We say we are Christians but we don't show it as he would want us to. That is why we need to hold this verse close to our hearts and look to what we can do to move from lukewarm to hot. This season is a reminder that God chose to make a difference in our lives. He chose to send his Son to redeem us. That is not a lukewarm act....rather it is one that called for sacrifice and change. As we get ready for the holiday it is my prayer that all of us will reflect on the meaning of Christmas and as we do we move from being lukewarm to being "on fire." Lets use this Christmas Season of 2009 and truly Make a Difference in the lives of those around us. Let's show that the fire is burning bright inside of us.