Lukewarm?

Lukewarm?

“Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone listens to My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me.” Revelation 3:20

It is very uncommon for someone to ignore someone knocking at their door. There are reasons, I suppose. Perhaps someone sharing religious pamphlets, or a door to door salesman. But let’s assume it is someone we actually know. Unless there is a definite reason, we will always go to the door, open it, and invite them in.

Perhaps we will offer them a cup of coffee, cookies, or even a sandwich. It is the neighborly thing to do. Very few of us would leave the person waiting outside.

Yet, apparently, that is what some of us do with Jesus. He remains outside, knocking on the door of our lives, and sometimes we make the choice to simply act as if He is not there. A very small handful actually goes to the door and asks Him to go away. Jesus’ promise is that if we hear and invite Him in, He will dine with us and us with Him.’

In the ancient world dining together was a sign of intimate friendship. You did not invite someone to a meal who was a mere acquaintance. Jesus longs to have the deepest relationship possible with each one of us. He is not satisfied with a mere “Hello” on the occasional Sunday, and using His name at the end of an intermittent prayer.

These words are spoken to a particular church in the town of Laodicea. A few verses earlier Jesus tells the church that they are “neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot.”

The recipients of the letter would have known exactly what Jesus meant. There were natural springs in the region from underground reservoirs. As with most springs, they had cold, clear water gushing from underground. But a few of them also were hot springs. Both had particular uses. The hot was used for bathing and medicinal qualities. The cold, of course, would be refreshing to drink on hot dusty days.

But lukewarm water that has been taken away from the springs and become simply room temperature is neither comfortable for a bath nor refreshing to drink. It is useless! That is why Jesus goes on to say, “Because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to spew you out of My mouth.”

Those are strong words from the Master! But, necessary ones, I think. We are much too comfortable, much too complacent. Are we not merely lukewarm when our commitment to Christ is limited to church attendance; if we remember to go at all? Are we not merely lukewarm when 9:45 am is much too early to attend a Bible study on Sunday morning? Are we not merely lukewarm when our prayers lack passion, our friends wonder if we are really Christians or not, and we hardly take time to open God’s Word during the week at all?

Are we not merely lukewarm when the commands of Jesus to love those who are against us fall like dust on the floor of our lives? Are we not merely lukewarm when we think we deserve His blessing just because we have served longer than others?

Jesus goes on to say, “The ones I love I correct and discipline; so burn with zeal and change your attitude.” Jesus doesn’t tell us we are distasteful because He wants to throw us out. He tells us so we can change! Now is the time. Today is your day. Let Him help you “change your attitude.”

It is the very next verse in which He says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone listens to My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” Jesus will not take second place. He will not allow us to continue giving mere lip service to Him while living on our own terms.

But, He does not badger us into submission. He calls us. He calls like a loving Father. He tells us the truth and asks us to acknowledge the same. “Yes, I can see I have become lukewarm. My love, my zeal, my fire have become passive. Help me to truly change my attitude and invite You in once again for a deep and intimate relationship.”

Ask yourself where you have become lukewarm, change your attitude about those areas, invite Christ to come in to aid you to change it, and start a brand new, exciting relationship, on fire for Him.