Luke Warm or Rearing To Go?

So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!  Revelation 3:16

Jesus has good reason when informing the people to avoid being lukewarm when relating to Him.  Some synonyms of lukewarm are: tepid, blase’, bored, indifferent, mundane, sick of and uninterested.  Would you think you had a thriving, meaningful relationship with someone if these words described the interaction that happened between you and your “loved” one?  Do any of these describe your attitude or approach in relating to Jesus and the things of God?  If so, please carefully and mindfully consider how you can ramp up the temperature to a “hot” approach in relating to the things of God.

Jesus mentioned two other choices: cold and hot.  He determined that if a person is totally cold, they can be spurred to some type of action.  You may reach for a coat or blanket.  You might adjust the thermostat in your house or move to a different state to help solve the problem of cold.  If you are lukewarm, you really aren’t motivated to cool off or get hot.  You are pretty much settled into status quo.  Of the three choices, Jesus would much rather we be hot in our our pursuit of Him and God’s Kingdom blessings.

Marvelous examples of a “hot” approach to life, living or the things of God, including Jesus, are race horses.  As they near the gates, most often they are chomping at the bit.  The horse is intent on running–that is the goal.  He feels the energy of the event.  He hears the energy of the event.  He wants to run.  He was created and trained for running.  He is invigorated, inspired, ready to go.  He has trained for this moment even though, at the moment, his jockey holds him in check.

The horse and the jockey work together.  They need each other.  A well-paired horse and jockey love and trust each other. The jockey has the responsibility of keeping track of the overall picture and then communicating strategic moves to the horse.  The horse moves according to the guidance of the jockey.   Even though this mighty animal is rearing to go, and could if he really wanted to, he waits for the release of the reigns–the signal to start his race.  He leans hotly into the pursuit and the goal of being first across the finish line thereby bringing glory and victory to his jockey.

You might want to call this example a parable: Jesus is the jockey and the horse is a committed Jesus-follower in hot pursuit of pleasing his master and winning the crown of glory.  It takes a hot pursuit to run a good race. (Hebrews 12:1)  There is no place for any kind of lukewarm attitude if a person intends to take the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24)  When running the journey of life together with Jesus the blanket of roses is guaranteed if you stay the course!

Now is the time to move out of the mundane, boring, lukewarm into the white hot race for the prize of eternal life,  joy, and abundant life while you still occupy space on this earth.

Make an honest evaluation and decide where you might have a lukewarm approach to life, living or Jesus rather than a “hot” approach?  What are you going to do about it?