Lukewarm Faith Refuses Friendship with Jesus | Daily Devotion
“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:
15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 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. 18 So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been 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. 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
20 “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. 21 Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.
22 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”
Revelation 3:14-22 NLT
To the pastor of the church in Laodicea, Jesus begins His letter by reminding of His, Jesus Christ’s, authority over the church that is granted by God, stating His authority and assessment of all that is taking place holds complete accuracy.
Jesus, as “the Amen,” is the fulfillment of all that God has promised, He is the One whom God has chosen to fulfill and complete God’s plan, thus all authority and power reside with Christ. Jesus Christ’s life lived in submission to God declares, “So be it.” Thus, Jesus Christ’s life illustrates His agreement with God and God’s divine plan for His Kingdom – God’s divine plan for His church, which includes placing Jesus Christ as the head in authority and oversight.
Jesus continues stating, He is the Faithful and True Witness.
Jesus is holy and thus, His perfect consistency and adherence to God is unlike man, whose faithfulness wanes upon trying circumstances.
We are told in 2 Timothy 2:13 NLT, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.”
Jesus’ perfect character, His holiness, can never deny or go back on His word – He will remain faithful through eternity.
And He is the True Witness, He is El Roi. He sees with His perfect knowledge, thus His assessment of what is taking place remains completely accurate and without question.
Jesus then reminds the pastor of the church of Laodicea that He is God and the source of creation – everything was created through Christ, the Word – as a false belief had arisen in Laodicea stating Jesus was a created being. Jesus is the Beginning. He is also the End. He is not under power, He is the power.
It's important to understand why Jesus Christ corrects false ideology – false ideology has a way of branching off in multiple directions with increased false ideologies, drawing allegiance. It creates false doctrine, which then guides behavior and the behaviors become destructive to self and to the community at large.
Only truth stands the test of time, every false ideology creates some measure of destruction on mankind and God’s creation. It also creates legalism that weighs people down, causing defeat and apathy – lacking lasting enlightenment and joy.
If the church in Laodicea believed Jesus was a created being, and not deity in the flesh, they would not love, respect nor worship nor adore His preeminence. They would not honor His power and glory and majesty. They would not know Him completely. Thus, they would lack zeal – and that was exactly what was taking place.
Jesus tells the head pastor, “I know all the things that 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!”
Hosea 4:9 says, “Like priests like people,” the people become like those who lead them.
If the pastor is lukewarm, the church will be lukewarm.
God continues saying in Hosea 4:9 NLT, “So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds.”
God doesn’t simply pinpoint one person as the cause of issues, He corrects everyone who has chosen to sin. We are all held accountable for our life decisions, regardless of who is leading. We can always choose a righteous path, following Jesus.
Thus, as Jesus calls out their lukewarm behavior – their apathy, their lack of zeal, their presence that showed hypocrisy devoid of a heart and mind loving Jesus Christ – He tells them they make Him sick.
They show up, but appear to do more damage to the church at large as the apathy is like leaven, sucking the joy and life out of the church. There’s a heaviness to apathy, lacking aliveness and energy. It’s not quite depression – it’s simply a state of being lacking desire to grow, while also lacking joy and love. Like someone going through the motions, thinking they are fine, but holding a blind oblivion to the destruction as the heaviness weighs down others and diverts eyes to self and off of Jesus Christ.
Jesus goes on to say, “ ‘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.”
Here Jesus addresses their earthly and eternal state impacted by their wrong mindset regarding life. Their focus was on material wealth in a physical world, but life on earth is more than material wealth as we are spiritual beings living in physical bodies with an eternal destination in either heaven or hell, and we hold the power to choose where we end up.
They said they had everything they needed, but their material is unable to enter into eternity with them, and the way they were currently living with lukewarm attitudes shows their poverty to come eternally. They were not storing up treasure in heaven by living a life according to the word of God here on earth. Moreover, their wealth on earth did not even bring them joy – they were miserable – it did not bring complete satisfaction as it was devoid of Jesus Christ, they were not living for the glory of God. Their focus shows to be on earth and self, but not on how their life lived on earth impacts their experience eternally in heaven. They had a misplaced devotion, and it reflected in their demeanor, their attitude, and behavior.
They are the ones many can attest have a saved soul, but a lost life. They refused to be best friends with Jesus.
They were spiritually impoverished, lacking faith, hope and love. They were blind in pride, thinking their material wealth sufficed in God’s economy and with Jesus calling out their nakedness, they showed to lack in good deeds on earth, as we are told in Revelation 19:8 that in heaven our clothing will be made up of our good deeds.
Genuine good deeds done in the name of Jesus, benefitting others, matters to Jesus Christ. This is one way we keep zeal alive in our soul. It is a supernatural blessing bestowed by Christ to all who look beyond themselves and seek to step in and help their brothers and sisters in Christ or non-believers. Our good deeds are an extension of Jesus Christ, where the recipient encounters Christ’s love and generosity, experiencing abundant life found in Him.
It is not so much the specific detail that takes place, it is obedience to God the Father in seeking to fulfill His will on earth.
Jesus then goes on to instruct the lukewarm pastor and church, providing a direct solution to their current spiritual state of being. He says, “So I advise you to buy gold from me – gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich.”
Here Jesus simply states, “Obey Me with your life. Offer your life to Me. Do what I have called of you, and your life will be purified by fire with so many riches in heaven where no moth nor rust can destroy.”
As Job 23:10 states, “He knows the way that I take and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Jesus then says, “Also buy white garments from me, so that you will not be shamed by your nakedness.”
Here Jesus speaks of living a life on earth in holiness and Christlikeness and rebukes the sins they justified, calling them to repentance. He is also exhorting them to perform good deeds for others for the glory of God, as their good deeds will make up their clothing—Revelation 19:8.
He then goes onto say, seemingly sarcastically, “and buy ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see,” calling out their blind pride. Their blind oblivion. They thought they were doing ok, but their belief showed a lack of knowledge of God.
Eyes to see and ears to hear are gifts from God—Proverbs 20:12, given to those who know Him.
In exhorting the Laodiceans to buy ointment for their eyes – Jesus is simply saying, you need to do something about your ignorance regarding the Kingdom of God. You cannot behave this way, selfishly, and think you are fine with God.
The Christian life on earth is an offering to God. We seek to live according to His ways, not our own.
Jesus finishes His rebuke by stating, “I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.”
Jesus calls out their lack of caring, while affirming His love specifically in His correction and discipline. He loves this church and wants them to turn from their indifference, realizing they are wasting the gift of life God has given them.
He continues in Revelation 3:20, saying, “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.”
Jesus’ pursuit of the Laodiceans shows His love and His desire for them to grow in their knowledge of Him, as they fellowship with one another. But in His love and grace, He gives them an opportunity to say yes to growing in the grace and knowledge of Him, or to say no.
This implies their apathy, their lukewarm state of being, came from their lack of knowledge of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and their lack of encountering Him. He was not denying an encounter, He was present –but He left it to the pastor and the church to decide whether they wanted one.
Will you invite Jesus Christ in? Do you desire to be best friends with Jesus?
Today, the way we encounter Jesus Christ’s presence is through the God ordained spiritual disciplines found in the word of God.
So, it looks like opening our bibles and reading Scripture, praying and talking with Christ about our everyday cares and concerns, worshipping the Lord, fellowshipping with Christians, going to church, fasting, communion, and times of solitude.
This is how we grow in our best friendship with Jesus, remaining alive spiritually with zealous hearts and minds and a soul right with God.
To those who are victorious – to those who turn from their sin and awaken to the love of Jesus Christ, walking in the will of God – Jesus says, “you will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.”
The victorious will reign with Christ in heaven through eternity.
Today, we have the privilege to decide the details of our eternal experience – do we desire to be in heaven or hell? If we choose heaven, how are we going to live today – what steps will we take to honor and glorify Jesus Christ, awakening our minds and hearts to His love?”
Prayer: Abba, thank You for Jesus Christ’s pursuit of His church, for His love found in His correction and encouragement. May we honor and glorify You today, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
