When asked what I miss the most about the United States, my answer is usually one of three things: family, friends, or ice cubes.
A beverage’s temperature is often characterized by its appearance. A cold beverage will show signs of condensation on the glass, while a hot beverage can be identified by the steam that escapes from its surface.
You don’t have to do anything to make something room temperature. When left alone, it will naturally take on the temperature of its surroundings. Making it cold or hot requires a decision to be made. Will I add ice cubes to it? Will I put it in the microwave? Will I package it up and freeze it? Will I put it in the oven?
Our relationship with Jesus is very similar.
A decision must be made. And it is the most important decision you will ever make.
Will I be hot or cold for Jesus?
The determining question in choosing which temperature we will be is not “Do I believe in God?”
Rather, the question is, “What do I believe is the purpose of this life I have been given?”
1) If we are convinced that this life is about us… our plans, our happiness, our accomplishments, our wealth, our success, what we have to offer, who we will marry, what career we will have, where we will live, etc… that leaves us two options: cold or lukewarm.
2) If we believe that we each have a purpose greater than ourselves and that the life we have been given is actually not about us at all, but rather about loving and serving our Creator by loving and serving those around us and sharing with them the hope of salvation… this also leaves us with two options: hot or lukewarm.
Allow me to explain.
Concerning the 1st Category:
If you fall into the former, maybe you’ve decided that, for you, God does not exist, and that He is most definitely not your purpose for living… in which case, you have made a decision to be “cold” as far as faith or a relationship with Jesus is concerned.
Maybe you fall into the former, but it’s not that you don’t believe God exists. You believe in God… maybe you even would consider yourself a Christian. But knowing that God exists and that Jesus died on the cross has not changed your heart or the way that you choose to live your life. For you, God exists, but He is not your Lord and Savior. You have, consequently, made an indirect decision to be “lukewarm”.
Concerning the 2nd Category:
If you fall into the latter category, you probably believe that your purpose for existing IS to love and serve God and to bring light, love, hope and salvation to this world. But the reason I say that you can still be lukewarm if you fall into this category is because just because one believes something to be true, does not mean they are always going to act on it or step into that truth.
For example, if my parents buy me a brand new car and tell me, “Here you go. This car is yours!”, and I choose to believe that they actually love me enough to buy me such a wonderful gift, and I choose to believe that it is mine, like they told me it was, I still must make the decision to act on what I believe to be true. This requires me to get into the car and actually drive it, take care of it, and fill the gas tank when it is low. If I believe the car is mine, yet choose not to drive it, chances are that it will appear to others that the car does not actually belong to me since I choose not to drive it.
Some of us who fit into the latter category know and believe that our worth, identity, purpose, and joy is found only in Jesus. And yet we do not allow this truth to permeate our hearts and our minds. We do not allow it to change us, but rather we continue to live by the standards the world sets for us. We believe that freedom, forgiveness, and new life has been offered to us, but we choose not to accept it. We prefer the familiar feeling and weight of the chains of our past.
We prefer the comfortability of a life that is lukewarm.
What does Jesus say about us being lukewarm and complacent?
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” –Revelation 3:15-16
God created us with the free will to make our own decisions. This includes our decision as whether or not He will be the Lord of our lives. When one of us denies Him, He mourns. When one decides to follow Him, He rejoices. But when one of His children claims to believe in Him, and yet lives a life of complacency, unfaithfulness, and indecision, He becomes furious to the point of disgust.
You are either in, or you are out.
Stop straddling the line, and make a choice… what is the purpose of this life you have been given??
If you are in… if you are choosing to be hot—what are you doing to keep the flame burning? Where is your fuel coming from?
Many food items spoil if they are not kept above or below a certain temperature. The item will start to rot and mold, and as a result will spoil not only the item itself, but any other food around it as well.
Hot or cold. In or out.
The choice is yours and your alone.
