Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 7, 2016
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!…Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Revelation 3:15, 19
As a young dad, I couldn’t wait to bring my wife and our first newborn home from the hospital. Damp, dreary and chilly outside, I built a roaring fire in our new Ashley wood burning stove to assure our 1,200 sq. ft. ranch home was warm and toasty. Our precious baby girl’s little pink fingers and toes never felt a tinge of coolness, because I kept feeding the fire with dried logs from a cord of wood just outside the back door. In preparation for the dark, cold night I filled the furnace and barely opened the flue. Like a hot fire, a hot heart for God needs its faith fueled.
The Lord looks displeasingly on a lukewarm life or on the institutional church that has lost its fiery faith for Christ. A mediocre church or Christian who coasts through life are unacceptable to God. In Revelation Jesus calls out the church for blending in with the world. He would rather the church be totally dead and cold than a spiritual zombie, acting as if it were alive. Death knows it is dead, but being alive and going through the motions is deadly. But God’s great desire is for His bride the church and each disciple to burn brightly for the faith.
“You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house” (Matthew 5:14-15, AMP).
What does it mean to be a lukewarm Christian? One indicator is that we use faith to further our self serving agenda. A politician who uses faith to get elected, but whose behavior does not back up their beliefs—is lukewarm. A business person who attends church to be seen and uses their influence to acquire customers, but whose life lacks integrity—is lukewarm. A student who says they are saved, but blends in with the crowd—is lukewarm. A family who smiles at church, but experiences hell at home—is lukewarm. Lukewarm is dishonesty.
Because the Lord loves us, He rebukes and disciplines us in our lukewarm condition. Christ calls us not to be like everyone else, but to stand courageously for the sake of the gospel. He calls us to be zealous in our faith—a zeal based on the knowledge of His word and knowing Him. As our Lord says—repentance is the remedy for being lukewarm. Turn from your cold, dead past—let go of your lukewarm present and fuel your faith with loving obedience to God. The flue of faith is opened on our knees in prayer and praise to our Savior Jesus. Hot hearts ever glow for God.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also” (Matthew 6:21, AMP).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, delivery me from being lukewarm by igniting my heart with Your love.
Application: What area of my life is lukewarm, in need of repentance and loving obedience?
Related Readings: Deuteronomy 4:29; 1 Kings 8:61; Psalm 24:3-5; Jeremiah 15:16, 24:7; John 5:42; Romans 5:5
Post/Tweet this today: Christ calls us to be zealous in our faith—a zeal based on the knowledge of His word and knowing Him. #WisdomHunters #hotheartedforGod
Worship Video: 8 minutes – United: Since Your Love
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