My biggest fear as a follower of Christ is displeasing God. I know what it is to be a lukewarm "Christian". I straddled the fence for awhile myself. I believed I was doing fine until God showed me I was far from him. This wasn't because he left me, it was because sin separated me from him. He has to turn away when we are filled with sin. God even turned from Jesus when he took on the sins of this world. Sin cannot exist in God's presence. God woke me up in the middle of the night to pray. I didn't really know what to pray for until I opened my Bible. I asked God to lead me in his knowledge, wisdom and understanding before I begin to read. When I looked down at the Bible I was in the book of Jeremiah. I begin to read and saw God's love and anger at the same time. He sent Jeremiah numerous times to prophesy to his people. He sent his judgement of what would happen because of disobedience, iniquity, and the worship of idols. The message sent was very serious. There were some bad things going to happen to them because of disobedience. God sounded the alarm so many times before he punished them. It's the same way today. He loves us so much that he will wake me out my sleep to pray for his people to get it right. There's nothing special about me, I'm sure I'm one of many. My point is so many feel it's not that serious. They feel as long as they go to church they are fine. Some feel there are many paths and if they are on one of them they're fine. Some people feel like if they identify as Christian they are saved. These are all wrong. The truth is that we are instructed by God that we must love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. This means to love God with your entire being. Living in sin while saying with your mouth you love God is being lukewarm.
Doing the bare minimum just doesn't cut it for God. He wants our all. The Bible says this is our reasonable service. Think about it. How would you feel if your child dishonored you after you've done everything for him/her? I would feel hurt. angry, sad, rejected and unloved. Now, how do you think God feel being that he sent his son to die so that we could live free of the thing we still hold on to, SIN? In Revelations Jesus says I wish you was either or, hot or cold, choose a side. Think of being in a relationship where someone tells you they love you but you never see them, you never hear from them, you can't depend on them for anything and there's no intimacy. They come around every now and then when they need something and once all is good they're gone again. I would rather they just leave me alone if I always have to question their love for me. We string God along just like that scenario I just presented. He's saying I AM ABOUT TO SPIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH! YOU MAKE ME SICK! I never want to make God feel like that. It saddens my heart to even know that I once did. At Jesus return I want him to know me. I want him to say well done my good and faithful servant.Disconnect the Yoke
In order to begin to be hot you must separate from the cold. Lukewarm is a mixture of hot and cold, it's being halfway in the world and halfway with God. To be with God we must separate from the world. You may say, how can we live in the world but separate from it? Romans 12:2 says don't be conformed (comply with the standards) by this world but be ye TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind. This is what God did for me and he continues to do it daily. I've changed in so many ways with no power of my own but by God changing the way I think. People that I used to connect myself with I don't anymore. I don't hate them, I don't think I'm better than them. If I see them I'm happy to see them but similarities are not there anymore. The music I listened to, I don't listen to it anymore. I used to workout to worldly rap music with cursing at times and now I listen to Godly music while exercising. I loved scary movies and spent a lot of time watching television, now my desires for that has changed. I don't look at those type of movies anymore and I hardly ever watch television. Instead I watch documentaries and sermons a lot. That's just a few changes of many that God has made in me. GUESS WHAT! I don't miss them because God is more important to me than anything in this world. Now is the changes always easy? NO. but the peace that the changes bring are awesome. I don't want to be lukewarm. My desire is to be all that God intended when he created me. I don't want to be connected to anything or anyone if it displeases God. In order to be all in for God we MUST disconnect the Yoke to sin. There is no bargaining in that area.
Jesus Message to the Lukewarm Believer
Be Zealous and Repent! Behold I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me. To him that overcometh "will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with the Father in his throne. Revelation 3:19-21
