“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. (Revelation 3:14-20 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)
This is not one of the most popular scriptures in the Bible, but it explains many things. There is no doubt that a lot of the weakness we see in the church and in Christians today is the result of the same sin that Jesus saw in the Laodiceans. They were trying to live in between Jesus and the world — neither completely for Him, nor completely against Him. There were neither hot nor cold, but the strange thing is that they thought they were doing really well — they were proud of themselves. Jesus says that they were disgusting to Him and that he would vomit them out of His mouth.
We need to decide to put Jesus first. Don’t ever believe the lie that you are “in need of nothing” or that you are “rich”. Laodicea was a wealthy city, and was known for its banks, textile industry, and medical school, and yet Jesus viewed them as poor, naked, and blind. Like them, we can so easily deceive ourselves into thinking that we are okay, that life is good, when we are actually lost and far from God. But however we have failed in the past, Jesus stands at the door of our hearts knocking, wanting to come in and transform our lives. The one condition He has is that He absolutely refuses to take any place in our lives other than first.
Don't be deceived like the Laodiceans were.
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