“So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
- Revelation 3:16 ESV
It was hot.
Not regular hot.
I’m talking about the kind of hot where a black dog starts looking for shade before his paws leave the porch and begins questioning every life decision that brought him outside before sunset.
My human and I were walking through the park when I spotted it.
A water fountain.
Now, to a thirsty dog, that little metal contraption looks like an oasis.
I hurried over.
My human pushed the button.
Water came out.
I lapped it up.
And immediately stopped.
Something was wrong.
The cooling system was broken.
The water was lukewarm.
Not cold.
Not refreshing.
Not what I had been hoping for.
I glared at my human.
He laughed.
I was not laughing.
Then as we walked away, my human said, “Nobody wants lukewarm water on a hot day.”
That got me thinking.
I remember my human reading in his Bible about how Jesus had something to say about lukewarm too.
In Revelation, Jesus spoke to the church at Laodicea. They weren’t cold toward Him, but they weren’t hot either.
They were comfortable.
Satisfied.
Somewhere in the middle.
And Jesus said lukewarm was so unpleasant that He would spew it from His mouth.
I get it. I nearly spewed that park water myself.
Here’s the thing my human and I talked about on the way home.
We want to follow Jesus—as long as the path isn’t too difficult.
We want to obey Him—as long as obedience doesn’t interfere with our plans.
We want Him to be Lord—as long as we still get to sit in the driver’s seat.
He doesn’t ask us to follow Him when it’s convenient, trust Him when things are easy, or obey Him only when we agree with what He says.
Jesus doesn’t call us to be halfway Christians.
He wants “all of our heart.”
Sometimes we become lukewarm without realizing it.
We still go to church.
Still sing the songs.
Still say the prayers.
But somewhere along the way, our fire begins to fade.
We get comfortable sitting on the fence.
The problem is, following Jesus was never meant to be a comfortable place in the middle.
Jesus gave everything for us.
And He calls us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Not some.
All.
I’m just an old dog, but I know this much:
On a hot day, cold water is refreshing.
And when my human builds a fire on a cool evening, hot is hot.
But lukewarm?
Well, lukewarm just leaves everybody disappointed.
Maybe today is a good day to check the temperature of our hearts.
Are we on fire for Jesus?
Or have we become comfortable being somewhere in the middle?
Because Jesus didn’t call us to be lukewarm.
He called us to follow Him.
Now let’s stay faithful, stay thirsty for Jesus, and whatever we do… don’t settle for lukewarm.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
