On Fire

Revelation 3:15-17 says, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold not 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. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

Becky read this passage last night at the first night of the Crazy Love study. And it stuck with me. I always understood that lukewarm water and other drinks generally aren't appealing. Ok, so lukewarm = bad. No big deal I get that part of the metaphor. But what about the whole hot and cold thing? Why would Christ want you to be adamantly against the faith instead of a halfhearted follower? I'm not saying we should be halfhearted, but isn't it better than not believing at all?

Before I started this post I googled this passage and one article came up that interested me. It's title is "How to Make Jesus Sick." That intrigued me. I haven't finished the whole thing but I found this part really good.

This begs the question: why would Jesus prefer cold to lukewarmness? If we understand the term “cold” to mean hostility toward the Gospel, we must conclude that Jesus would rather see a person an antagonist than a halfhearted follower. But that explanation seems doubtful. It is unlikely that Jesus preferred hostility to half-heartedness. A better way to understand these verses is to see both “cold” and “hot” as positive terms. Cold water refreshes, hot water heals, but lukewarm water does neither.

Now that makes since to me! I want to be like a cold drink to me friends. I want to help refresh them. I want to be hot water also. I want to help with the healing. I want to be this way not just with my friends but to everyone I see. I want the to look at me and say, "She's different." I don't want to be like that world and get caught up in the wealth and riches of the here and now. I want to store up my treasures in heaven where moth and rust won't be.

Don't get me wrong, I worry about money. I want to have a good paying job and not have to worry about making it from paycheck to paycheck. I want to have extra to share with those who don't have enough. By no means am I always not lukewarm. I have my funks. But it's not where I want to be.

In the article it also talks about the Greek word that John used for "to spit." It was emeo. This doesn't just mean spit; it means "to vomit." That's harsh. I don't want to make Christ sick. I want him to be proud of me. I want Him to look at me the way a father looks at his daughter when she first rides her bike with no training wheels or when she brings home a a report that she worked really hard on and got an A. I want him to be happy, ecstatic to say, "She belongs to me."