Spit Out

Christians follow Christ. Seems like a simple enough statement, but it is not an easy statement. The idea of a person calling themselves a Christian and not devoting themselves to Christ may seem ridiculous on the surface but in practice the church is full of the half commited. In Revelation 3:15-18 tells the tale of the lukewarm believer and what their end will be. The passage tells how Christ will spit them from his mouth. I recently read a book that shed light on that word for spit. It is a Greek word used only once in scripture and connotes gagging, hurling, and retching. The scary part is that many believe that this scripture talks about Christians but I can't believe it does because of what the rest of the scripture says. It tells the lukewarm one to "buy from me gold refined in the fire so ou can become rich: and white clothes to wear so you can cover your nakedness." If this passage were talking about believers they would already be dressed in white, they would not be "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, or naked," because they would be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Please don't believe that a person can be a "lukewarm believer." God asks for our lives, all of our lives. We dare not hold anything back. And why would we want to? He is good and gracious. He has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Luke 14:33 says that "Anyone who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." There is no rationalizing around that scripture, no softening it. The good news is that there is no better life than giving up ours for the one He gives! No better life! None! We are called to be His disciples and to live for His glory, the glory of the everpresent, all powerful, creator God who loves us and desires our best, not to waver on the fence, come to the end of our lives and have nothing to give our King.