Revelation 1-5

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%201-5&version=ESV


Revelation 3:15-16 "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."

God would want you on fire for Him or cold against Him than you being in the middle and lukewarm, right? Doesn't the above passage state this? Let's take a closer look.

Laodecia was between 2 cities, Hierapolis to the north and Colossae to the southeast.

"In Hierapolis, six miles to the north, there was some famous springs, hot springs. In fact, they were one of the most well-known and popular places for healing. The water was hot and you went there and sat in that water and it had therapeutic power. It is still used today. Hierapolis had hot water and that hot water was therapeutic.

In Colossae, ten miles south and east, there was a cold stream. We learned that the stream was perennially running and perennially cold like typical water that flows from the high mountains. That water was thirst quenching. That water was famous because of its cool, clear character.

They didn't have the hot therapeutic water of Hierapolis and they didn't have the cold clear refreshing water of Colossae, they had the foul, dirty, tepid water that flowed for miles through an underground aqueduct. It wasn't hot and it wasn't cold. Not hot enough to relax and restore, not cool enough to refresh and quench. Laodicea couldn't provide the refreshment of Colossae, it couldn't provide the healing of Hierapolis. Its lukewarm water was absolutely useless. Any visitor who came there who wasn't used to the stuff would put it in his mouth and immediately emit it, spit it out." (From John MacCartthur : http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/66-14_Laodicea--The-Lukewarm-Church-Part-1)

Keith Krell from Bible.org states, "It is unlikely that Jesus preferred hostility to half-heartedness. A better way to understand these verses is to see both “cold” and “hot” as positive terms. Cold water refreshes, hot water heals, but lukewarm water does neither."

So, the interpretation held by so many appears to be in error. By digging deeper, and understanding the context of the passage, we can learn what John meant when He wrote this to the church of Laodecia back in roughly 95 AD.

God wants us to be of use to Him. Friends as we approach 2010 I hope that you will pray to the Lord that you would be of use to Him, and not useless like the waters at Laodecia.

One way to be of use to Him, is to continually read His Word each day as you have done this year. I want to commend y'all for reading the Bible this year with us. But don't be proud of yourselves. This is only one year. You have a life time left to study God's Word. George Mueller, known for his ministry to orphans, read the Bible through over 200 times, half of these times on his knees. He said he knew of some 50,000 specific answers to prayer...requests to God alone!

How great is that? Friends, this is probably the eighth or ninth time I have read the Bible through. Each year I make a goal to read the Bible through in the coming year, in addition to studying for my small group.

I would like to share with you some reading plans for 2011:

http://www.navpress.com/dj/content.aspx?id=138

In addition, my former girl friend, and now fiancee, and I are going to read the One Year Bible NIV together this year : http://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Bible-Compact-NIV/dp/1414306415/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293805184&sr=8-1#_

This is how I usually enjoy reading the Bible. Reading some of the Old Testament, some of the New Testament, and a Psalm and a Proverb. In this way you are daily feeding on different parts of God's Word.

We chose the Chronological Reading Plan, as it would fit best with the plan of trying to read the Bible together as a class this year.

Regardless of what plan you choose, the most important thing is to pick a plan and to continue reading the Bible through in 2011 and beyond.

If you miss a day, don't beat yourself up on it. Try to catch up if you can, or just read the day's reading in your plan. But as you grow in your knowledge of God's Word you won't want to skip a day, you will become as Peter described:

"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good." (1 Peter 2:2-3)

Friends, you can not grow as a Christian if you do not read His Word. For so long I did not heed this truth. But by God's grace, I now long for the pure spiritual milk of His Word.

It has been an honor for me to blog with y'all this year as we have read through the Bible together. It has been challenging and very rewarding for me. I was given the honor to write on some of the greatest chapters in the Bible.

As we begin 2011 tomorrow, friends I am praying that you would seek the Lord, grow in His love, and seek to become more like Christ.

Thanks again for reading the blog with us and sharing your comments with us. May you live a life that is pleasing and glorifying to the Lord in 2011.

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)

Soli Deo Gloria. (which means in English "Glory to God alone")

Today's post was submitted by Russ Shellhamer.