Lukewarm

"I know all the things you do, 

that you are neither hot nor cold.

I wish that you were one or the other!

But since you are like lukewarm water,

neither hot nor cold,

I will spit you out of my mouth!

You say, 'I am rich.

I have everything I want.

I don't need a thing!'

And you don't realize that you are wretched

and miserable and poor and blind and naked!

So I advise you to buy gold from me--

gold that has bee purified by fire.

Then you will be rich.

Also buy white garments from me

so you will not be shamed by your nakedness,

and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.

I correct and discipline everyone I love.

So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

Look!  I stand at the door and knock.

If you hear my voice and open the door,

I will come in,

and we will share a meal together as friends.

Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne,

just as I was victorious

 and sat with my Father on his throne."

Revelation 3:15-21 NLT

The game was simple: choose one side and show allegiance to your team by trying with all your might to tag as many members of the other team as possible, freezing them in order to render them as helpless.  The first team to immobilize all members of the enemy team wins.

As the kids ran around the field, though, I soon noticed one girl who seemed to be tagging anyone she could get her hands on.  "Beverly, which team are you on?"  I asked, trying to get her back on track.  She replied, "Oh, I don't want to pick teams.  I'd rather just run around and freeze whoever I can."

Just as it is important while playing this version of freeze tag to choose a team, so it is vital to my walk with Christ to likewise pick a side.  Jesus hates the middle!  He wants me to stake my claim, choose my side, pick my team.  To stay neutral or in the center, between Him and Satan, angers Him.  Perhaps this is because sitting on the fence is really a choice against Jesus and for the Enemy. (Matthew 12:30)   

It is sobering to think that I may exhibit this kind of indifference in some ways I didn't realize.  Let me take an objective look at the way I live my life.

Blended

They believed a little bit of everything.  If it sounded good to them, they would incorporate it into their belief system.  The Samaritans gathered together idols like some collect tea cups or stamps.  To them, every religion was equal and more of the same.

For this reason, among many, the Jews abhorred the groups of people who inhabited an area in the northern kingdom of Israel.  As a people group who were always taught about purity and staying loyal to the One True God, this kind of openness was repulsive to the Israelites.  As much as I understand about God's jealous nature, I still tend to drift toward a similar kind of unfaithfulness as I live in a world not so different from that of the Samaritans.

Talk show hosts spout words of worldly wisdom which sound good to my itching ears and I take it in as truth. (2 Timothy 4:3)  Instead of using the spirit of discernment which comes from honing my relationship with my holy Father, I rely on my own understanding and believe everything that appeals to my flesh.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The moment a sickness rears it's ugly head, I begin researching possible causes and never think to go to the Great Physician and seek His healing.  When a new television show sounds intriguing, I get hooked with nary a thought toward the effect it may have on my heart.  (Proverbs 4:23)

I am lukewarm when I blend into the world around me instead of taking purposeful steps toward staying true to my God.

Independent

  I used to think one of the most important traits to instill in my daughters was a spirit of self-sufficiency.  When they were young, I looked forward to the day when they could do things for themselves; wash their own clothes, prepare their own food and drive themselves to where they wanted to go.  

Once the girls reached the teenage years, however, God impressed upon me the importance of teaching them dependence.  Not a reliance on me and my husband, but a complete trust in their heavenly Father as the One who is able to supply all their needs.

To take this lesson to heart for myself, I need to drop the modern idea of autonomy and individualism.  Instead of looking to my own abilities and resources to provide for myself, I would do well to picture myself as a little girl who lives without worry as she looks to her rich and powerful Daddy to lavishly adorn her with good things.  In this way, I will live in the kind of relationship my Father intended for me.

In the place of going after what I think I need, I can instead focus on God's kingdom and on living in a way that pleases Him.  As a result, the Lord who knows my needs better than I will perfectly shower me with goodness. (Matthew 6:31-33)

I am lukewarm when I exhibit an independent spirit instead of looking to my Father as the Source and Supplier of all I need.

Not Ready

My husband went to pick up the daughter of a friend of ours but she was not ready when he arrived.  He had to wait as she gathered up all her necessities for an overnight stay, making him precariously close to being late for a class he was scheduled to teach.  This young lady almost missed out on this planned time with our family because she had not been paying attention to the time and was not prepared for my husband's arrival.

I am not so different from this adolescent girl.  I get so caught up in my day-to-day activities that I forget that Jesus could come back at any time.  Am I ready?  Instead of watching for Him in eager anticipation, I tend to get comfortable in this world.  

When I settle in here, making this place my home, I become blinded to the work of God's hand all around me and instead focus on my own fitness.  Instead of seeing myself as the sinner in need of the grace of God that identifies me to Christ, I start comparing myself to others and judge myself as not so bad.  

Rationalization of my areas of sin soon follows and before I know it, I'm trapped in a stronghold of sin.  In order to stay in a state of readiness, I must always keep my sin before me, realizing my desperate need for Jesus.

I am lukewarm when I get comfortable with my sin instead of realizing my state of nakedness before a Holy God.

There is no doubt that Jesus hates the position in the middle of the road;  He'd rather I choose sides.  While I may think I've staked my claim, a thorough examination of my life may come up with a different conclusion.  My tendency to blend into this world, to live independently and my state of un-readiness reveals the truth:  I am in danger of being lukewarm.  Whose side will I choose this day?

As I begin this day may I intentionally choose Jesus.

When do I drift along instead of swimming purposefully toward my Lord and Savior?

How do I rely on my own resources instead of God's?  

The Divider

"Do not suppose

that I have come to bring peace to the earth.

I did not come to bring peace,

but a sword."

Matthew 10:34

Jesus would not have won the Nobel Peace Prize.  The winner of the prestigious award should have, in the words of Alfred Nobel*, "...done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." 

Instead, Jesus came to turn, "a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household." (Matthew 10:35-36)  The reason for this division is simple.  There is no fence-sitting when it come to Jesus.  His words as recorded in Matthew 12:30 proclaim, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."  I must make a choice; "Yea" or "Nay."

My Will or His Will

Jesus is a divider in the way He requires His followers to not just know about Him, but to choose to follow in His footsteps by obeying our heavenly Father at all costs.  Jesus did not have the problem that I do of choosing His own comfort above His Father's will. 

Even when faced with abandonment by the ones He loved, humiliating and torturous treatment all ending with an excruciating death on a cross and separation for a time from His Father, Jesus chose obedience. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

I am faced with this dilemma throughout my day.  Do I listen to the still small Voice telling me to not buy that certain something that I've wanted for a long time and finally have the money to purchase?  How about when a desperate neighbor rings my doorbell when I'm in the middle of something important and don't want to be bothered?  Or when it's pouring down rain and I'm late for an appointment, passing by the mother and three children walking alongside the road?

Jesus pits my will against that of His Father's.  It's a choice between my will or His will.

My Flesh or His Righteousness

I have often heard it said, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And in fact, this is what Jesus said to his disciples as recorded in Mark 14:38 when they were struggling to stay awake and pray for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was taken away.  Later, the apostle Paul addressed this problem with the weakness of our flesh.

Paul explained the cycle of futility in which we want to do what is right, but our flesh desires the opposite.  He concludes with, "So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." (Romans 7:25) 

The good news is that we are freed as slaves to sin! But that only means I am not forced to follow my fleshly desires.  I have a choice to prefer God's righteousness over my natural inclinations.  But it's still a choice.

I am often faced with this quandary.  Do I give into the frustrations that well up within me when things don't go my way, or do I turn to my Father and instead focus on Him and His hand in my life?  Do I continue eating because it tastes so good and I don't feel satisfied with what I've already consumed, or do I look to the Father for genuine contentment?  Do I draw my sense of security from the money I have saved up and the investments I have made, trusting in these things to give me a secure future, or do I trust my Father to supply all my needs by giving it all away to those who need it now?

Jesus pits my natural inclinations against His Spirit.  It's a choice between walking in the flesh or walking in His Spirit.

My Heart or His Heart

My heart is often filled with anxiety, judgmentalism, and fear.  It's not a pretty place.  Even though I often hear the advice to follow my heart, God teaches otherwise in Jeremiah 17:9.  "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (KJV)  I have a choice to follow my heart which will lead me away from God and His ways, or I can follow the heart of Jesus. 

Jesus taught me to, ". . . not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me." (John 14:1)  Putting my trust in Jesus means choosing His heart over mine.  Where was Jesus' heart?  It was with the downcast, the poor, the outcasts of society.  He came to save the lost, not those who think they already have it all together.

Who do I choose to hang out with?  It is usually with people like me, people who desire to grow closer to God and learn more about Him.  People who have a similar upbringing, beliefs and values.  In essence, people with whom I am comfortable.

What about the drug addict who sits on his front porch at all hours of the day and night, alone and despondent?  Or the single mom struggling to raise her children on her own?  Or the Muslim family who prays five times a day to a god made of stone?  Are these people I would choose to hang out with as Jesus did, revealing His heart?

Jesus pits my heart against His heart.  It's a choice between following my deceitful heart, or going after the things that touch the heart of Jesus.

Following Jesus is not easy.  It is filled with difficult choices that take me to the will, the desires and the heart.  I can take comfort in knowing that the struggle is not in vain, however, for it will bring me a crown of life!

As I begin this day, it is my prayer that I can choose Jesus above all other things.

Where do I follow my heart, desires and comfort without giving a second thought to God?

How often do I seek God's will throughout the day rather than functioning on auto-pilot, choosing to do what comes naturally? 

* http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/