Daily Devotional

Here in Revelation John sends seven letters to seven churches that both praise some churches but also warn against weaknesses. This verse comes from the letter to the church in the Laodicea in which they are rebuked for being lukewarm and self-sufficient which results in them being spiritually poor, blind, and naked. Now of all the letters to the churches, this one seems to be most like what I see in Christians in America. You see we are very wealthy compared to the rest of the world, we don’t want or need like most do around the world, we preach “God helps those who help themselves” which is not in the Bible. We look to money, status, and the government before we look to God. All the while we water down the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the churches in America embrace spiritual relativism and stray from truth.

However it is not too late! We as christians need to stand firm in the truth, not individual truth. We need to call out and confront sin as it is stated in God’s Word and not tolerate it in the name of love. True love is not wanting our brothers and sisters condemned to an eternity separated from God and thus not being afraid to offend them by calling their sin what it is, sin. We are all sinners, none of us is perfect, Romans says there is none righteous, no not even one. But that is not an excuse to continue sinning and accepting each other's sin. Paul asked whether we should sin more that grace may abound and declared “may it never be!”
 
Christianity in America is not yet life or death, we don’t have to fear going to church, or being truly persecuted for our faith. But that reality has made us soft, has made us lukewarm with no conviction for our faith and no desire to share the hope that is in us through Christ Jesus. Jesus is knocking at the door of our hearts and all we need do is open up to Him. At the end of the letter to the Laodiceans Jesus through John says “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcome and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

He who has an ear let him hear, be warned, and let us return to our first love, Jesus Christ, that we may serve Him in spirit and truth, not a truth, but THE TRUTH.

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.