Day 12 of the 30 Days of Prayer – Gold Refined by Fire

Posted: Oct 09, 2020

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. ‘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.  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelations 3:14-22

The church of Laodicea wasn’t always lukewarm. In Colossians 4:15-16, Paul writes the following:

Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

Somewhere between the time Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians and when Jesus appeared to John and gave Him the message for the seven churches in Revelations, something went wrong. They allowed the comfort from their financial prosperity to rot them spiritually.

Life in the suburbs can do that to you. So can a culture that’s been deluged with entertainment. If we’re not careful we can get the idea that this life is about having as much fun as possible. Thankfully, many of our churches have cappuccino bars so we don’t have to do without while we’re in God’s house. The worship bands avoid weighty songs like “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”… no need to disturb people with the thought that there might be a spiritual battle with demons (do they even exist?). Gotta make sure the faithful are warmed up for the morning message. Just make sure you don’t talk about anything that upsets people’s comfort zones. And whatever you do, don’t ask them to get on their knees and pray during the weekend service. You want people walking out? Ahem, we don’t take this Jesus thing that far.

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