Revelation 3:15-16: A Story about Temperature

I have heard counsel many times about how important it is not to be lukewarm in your faith. You need to act on that faith and help it to grow instead of letting it stagnate. Well, this week as we were studying Revelation, we discussed the scripture verse where this came from.

"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of thy mouth." -Rev 3:15-16

First, to better show how this scripture can apply to each of our lives, I'll explain some of the background. James is describing some springs in the city of Laodicea (who he is writing to in these verses). The water from these springs, which was once hot, is lukewarm by the time that it gets to the city. In addition, the water often became choked off on its way to the city because of the build up of bacteria due to the minerals in the water as well as its temperature. Bacteria loves to grow in lukewarm temperatures. I learned this as I was working in food service, as we are told to keep food either at cold or hot temperatures. If the food's temperature is in the middle, bacteria grows much faster than it would otherwise. It is the same for this water. 

It amazes me just how powerful this scripture is. If we are lukewarm in our faith, there is a much higher chance that bacteria, or things that lessen our faith, will be able to grow and multiply. And, if this happens, we can become choked off from God and from the revelation that comes through Him, just as the water became blocked. If we are lukewarm, we also run the risk of being "spued out of God's mouth." The word spued here is actually a nicer way of saying vomited, and vomiting is a violent rejection of what the stomach has ingested. 

I don't think that anyone would choose to be violently rejected by God or to cut him or herself off from God. However, this is what often happens, and it is easy to find oneself in the category of being lukewarm. We all get busy in our lives and priorities change. Sometimes it is hard to keep God and our faith as the number one priority. It takes a lot of time and effort. However, if we remember to keep our priorities straight, we can avoid being lukewarm and the negative side effects that come with it. 

1 Peter 1-2: A Story about Rising Above Temptation

In 1 Peter 1, Peter explains how we should rise above the lusts of the world, saying in verse 14-15: "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance; But as he which called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." We live in a society that is abounding with lusts. Different temptations lurk around almost every corner, and taking part in these has been increasingly seen as acceptable by the world we live in. With all of this going on around us, how can we stay above these temptations so that we can become better followers of Christ, "holy in all manner of conversation?" We discussed a couple of ways in class that we could better do this. 

1. Don't let your mind be idle/blank. If your mind is idle, it is much easier for temptation to come to you or for you to do things that are not entirely beneficial to your spiritual well-being. As we discussed this, I realized that I recently have let my mind be idle, or even wanted it to be. After spending a long day on school work, I get home and browse some time wasting internet sites with the purpose of not having to think about anything at all. Because I allow this to happen, I can give over control for things that are on the internet or thoughts that I don't come up with to occupy my mind instead. 

2. Don't dwell upon/rationalize temptations. The second thing that we discussed that connects to this first point is not to go back and obsess about things that we have been tempted with in our lives. If we do this, we put too much focus on our temptations and might end up trying to rationalize away the temptation. Christ gave us an example of what to do with this when He was faced with the devil's temptations. He did not pause and think about those temptations that Satan presented Him with. He instantly refuted Satan's offers. If we do the same, we will always be stronger than those things that we are tempted with. Initially, as stated in 1 Corinthians 10:13, we are always stronger than our temptations. However, if we let them stick around for too long, we flip this around and may end up giving into temptation. 

3. Be spiritually born again. This point is mentioned in 1 Peter 1:23, where Peter says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible..." If we are truly spiritually reborn, we will have a greater resistance to the temptations that we are faced with in day to day life. 

4. Go back to the basics. This fourth point can be seen in 1 Peter 2:2. Peter states here, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." When we find that we are struggling with temptations, we shouldn't focus on those parts of the gospel that can be more complex and difficult to understand, but we should go back to the basics. By simplifying and going back to the basics of the gospel that we know well, we can form a better foundation on which to stand when facing a temptation that we are struggling with. 

These are just a few of the many suggestions that the scriptures give that can help us deal with temptations in our lives. As society becomes more and more accepting of sin and we are faced with more temptations, even in the bright light of day, following such suggestions can help us to have more success in our efforts to follow Christ's example.