Have you ever picked up a cup of tea or coffee expecting it to be hot only to find it’s lukewarm? It’s not pleasant and you probably want to get it heated up as soon as possible. It’s much the same for us as Christians in our walk with Jesus. We can be lukewarm or hot in our love for God.
Revelation 3:15-16 says,
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST
When you put your faith in Jesus and become a child of God you start living a brand new life in Christ. The Bible says that the old has gone and the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). You are now a new creation in Christ. It also means that you turn your back on the world and don’t follow its ways. In fact, we are told not to love the world because Satan is its ruler and it’s the kingdom of darkness. When you become a Christian God removes you from this kingdom of darkness and places you in His kingdom, the kingdom of light (Col 1:13).
1 John 2: 15-29 says, “15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
DO NOT LOVE THE WORLD
God has given us this strong warning in scripture not to love the world because it will dilute our love for the Lord. Ultimately, this will cause us to become lukewarm, drift away from the Lord and backslide in our faith.
Every day moment by moment we need to choose to turn our back on the world and follow Jesus. Jesus reminds us of this in Matthew 16:24 which says, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
And when we do this it helps us to stay close to the Lord and radical in our faith.
Let’s be determined this year to be passionate about building our relationship with the Lord. Make it a priority to spend time with God daily and grow your prayer life. And if you’re feeling like you don’t have a passion for God and like you’re lukewarm then repent and ask God to help you hunger and thirst for Him again. He will do this because our God is faithful!
Let’s go deeper and more passionate in our walk with the Lord this year!