Cold Coffee

God gave me the wonderful gift of writing. I started when I was about 9 filling pages and notebooks with my stories. Of course, I had no idea then, that He had a divine plan for my gift. I spend a lot of time on my laptop. Bible studies. Blogging. Newsletters. If I am not writing, I am researching. 
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I make a cup of hot coffee, take a couple of swallows and start work. I become absorbed in what I am doing, and time passes unnoticed. Then, I pause, pick up my coffee cup and take a big swig of “cold coffee.”  Yuck. Ooh aah icky poo. My delicious hot coffee has turned nasty and undrinkable. If I want my coffee to be fit to drink again, I have to put it in the microwave and heat it back up.
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So why am I telling you this? Because I want to share with you one of those aha moments that God gave me this week. 
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I have been studying in Revelations. I reached the letter Jesus wrote to the Laodiceans in Revelation 3. Laodicea means ruled by the people. I don’t think that is meant to be a good description. They are the apathetic church. They are our modern church. The people who attend church, control church politics, and basically manage to leave God out of it. They change the Bible to make it easier. No hell? No problem. No judgement? No problem. No Rapture or Tribulation period? No problem. Amen means that Jesus is the last word, the authority. Too many apathetic Christians have changed Amen to Whatever.
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In Revelation 3:15-16, Jesus says, “I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”
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Ok so now you see where I am going with my story about cold coffee? It struck me that as Christians, we are very much like that cup of coffee. At first, we are hot, on fire for God. Stimulated by the Holy Spirit and stimulating in spreading His Word. But left alone, we cool down. Oh, we are not cold. We are still Christians. But we are apathetic. Not serving, not stimulating others, just going though the motions. Mostly we don’t have time and can’t be bothered. We are just, you know, “whatever.”
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In this letter, Jesus tells us that we are wretched and miserable. Poor because we have nothing stored in heaven. Naked and we are not ashamed. And blind and cannot even see how bad we are. We are indeed luke-warm. And we are a bad taste in Jesus mouth. But spit us out? What does He mean?
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Our Savior endured a beating that ripped the flesh from his body. He was nailed to a cross and suffered the agony of hanging there in a long, lingering, painful death. He willingly died for us, overcoming death and the grave so that we might have Salvation, a restored relationship with God, and eternal life. Is it difficult to understand that He is so disappointed and disgusted with what we have done with His precious gift of salvation that He considers spitting us out of His mouth?
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And yet, despite everything, Jesus loves us. He has salve to open our eyes. He has white robes of His righteousness to cover our nakedness. He has riches for us that are worth far more than anything we could ever acquire on earth. Jesus says, “Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline.” So, like the finest gold, He refines us in His Holy fire.
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Jesus says, ”He who hath an ear, let Him hear.” I believe he really wants us to understand what He is saying. He loves us enough to tell us we are not living as He intended. We are not serving in the manner for which we are called. We are getting too comfortable in our fleshly bodies. Too complacent with the sin of the world around us. Too absorbed with things that have nothing to do with God.
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Our primary job, as Christians is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, so that our loved ones, friends, and perfect strangers can accept Salvation. 
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If we are not on fire for God, how can we ever hope to lead another person to Christ? 
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Praise God, Jesus loves us. Just like I put my cold coffee in the microwave to heat it back up, Jesus refines us. Reheating. Re-stimulating. Reactivating the fire of the Holy Spirit within us, so that we can go out and set the world on fire for God.