Matthew, Mark, Lukewarm

So I was watching one of pastor Brian Houston's sermons today before going to practice, and was really struck by how important that message is for all of us christians to hear. Basically in part one of his series on spiritual awareness, he was talking about complacency. When we're complacent, we're fine with where we are spiritually; we don't care. It's scary because when we get that way - when we start giving God the leftovers in our lives and because we're not living for him anymore - we stop becoming convicted. That's where it gets dangerous. Revelations 3:16 is one of the most controversial verses in the new testament, for good reason. It makes people very uncomfortable when God says, "...because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth" (NKJV) or as The Message puts it, "You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit." When we're not on fire for God, it makes him want to vomit, and he'll ultimately remove us from him. Wow... that's rough. But why would he rather us be cold? Shouldn't giving him part of our lives at least count for something? Not really.. When we're in that state of complacency, we're not being convicted and not fully giving ourselves to God. Really, we're just numb. At least when we're cold, we know where we are spiritually. We feel disconnected and realise that something needs to change to make it right. To borrow Pastor Brian's illustration, think about it this way: if i'm in a car accident and go to the hospital, i'd much rather my legs be in pain (even though that's uncomfortable) than not being able to feel them at all. God would rather us be cold than lukewarm.

I'm not saying at all though that you should become cold, but rather I really want to encourage you to be hot - to be on fire for God! Just ask him to fill you with a passion for him. With the shedding of complacency comes spiritual awareness. We become aware of all the opportunities around us that God's given us to share the gospel with a friend, or to make a stranger's day. Trust me, true happiness, fufillment and joy come when we give God our firstfruits, not our leftovers. :)