Cold or hot?
Clap your hands, all you peoples;
Shout to God with loud songs of joy. Psalm 47:1
Read Revelation 3:14—22
So am I cold? Or hot? Only one option would ever be acceptable. If I were a cold Christian, how would I look? I would rarely have followed the prompting of the Spirit. I’d be hard put to name a behaviour I had changed because Christ spoke to me about it. My spending pattern would be barely affected by my faith. I’d still like to die rich. I’d not always guard my lips closely, except when the conversation got to matters of faith. I’d be quite discreet about that. Worship would be routine. No, cold Christianity is no option. The remarkable thing in this reading is this: it is on the door of cold Christians that Jesus knocks. He knocks. He calls, ‘Open. Let’s eat, you and me. Let’s eat and talk and love it. Be cold toward me no more.’
Lord, what greater pleasure can there be than to hear you knock? To open the door to you, the door into all parts of my life, to my hopes and dreams, my secret thoughts, my long-term passions? Come in. Speak into my affections. Speak into my relationships. Tell me who I am. Tell me who I could be, what we could make of this one life together, with you in the lead in everything. And bring me out of the cold.