Making a Difference - Whether Hot or Cold
By: Melody Crombie
Our family drinks tea, a lot of tea. During the summer months I make big pitchers of the stuff for everyone. Our tea obsession started a long time ago with my husband. He is one of those rare individuals that doesn't drink coffee (gasp) so every morning he gets a travel-size mug of tea that he sips on his commute into work.
Several years ago after our microwave broke, I bought an electric water kettle that heats the water in, you guessed it, a kettle. Our first two were ceramic and always seemed to meet with an untimely demise. Our current one is a robust stainless steel. This morning as I was pouring the water from the kettle into a pitcher for sweet tea, I noticed that the water was not its usual bubbly, steamy self. I have had this happen before and know exactly what to do. One of my overly-cautious kids has gone around during the night and unplugged all of the small appliances so I plug it back in and quickly have active, rolling boiling water in no time.
This reminds me of the bible verse in Revelation 3:16, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” The church in Revelation was no longer making a difference in the people (and ultimately the community) around them. By trusting in their riches, they were essentially telling God they could 'take him or leave him' and it would have no real effect. They had disengaged (unplugged) from the power source of life and allowed the riches of the world to convince them they had all they needed.
Getting water hot or cold usually takes effort. We need fire under it to heat it or ice to make it cold. If water is left alone it often becomes grossly lukewarm. During my lifetime I have witnessed the church getting people around them fired up about important issues. Simultaneously, the church has offered the hurting, thirsty and needy a cup of cold water in Jesus' name. The important thing to remember is that Jesus is our source of power, making us hot or cold. Our good deeds testify to the world the kind of relationship we have with Him.
Our family drinks tea, a lot of tea. During the summer months I make big pitchers of the stuff for everyone. Our tea obsession started a long time ago with my husband. He is one of those rare individuals that doesn't drink coffee (gasp) so every morning he gets a travel-size mug of tea that he sips on his commute into work.
Several years ago after our microwave broke, I bought an electric water kettle that heats the water in, you guessed it, a kettle. Our first two were ceramic and always seemed to meet with an untimely demise. Our current one is a robust stainless steel. This morning as I was pouring the water from the kettle into a pitcher for sweet tea, I noticed that the water was not its usual bubbly, steamy self. I have had this happen before and know exactly what to do. One of my overly-cautious kids has gone around during the night and unplugged all of the small appliances so I plug it back in and quickly have active, rolling boiling water in no time.
This reminds me of the bible verse in Revelation 3:16, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” The church in Revelation was no longer making a difference in the people (and ultimately the community) around them. By trusting in their riches, they were essentially telling God they could 'take him or leave him' and it would have no real effect. They had disengaged (unplugged) from the power source of life and allowed the riches of the world to convince them they had all they needed.
Getting water hot or cold usually takes effort. We need fire under it to heat it or ice to make it cold. If water is left alone it often becomes grossly lukewarm. During my lifetime I have witnessed the church getting people around them fired up about important issues. Simultaneously, the church has offered the hurting, thirsty and needy a cup of cold water in Jesus' name. The important thing to remember is that Jesus is our source of power, making us hot or cold. Our good deeds testify to the world the kind of relationship we have with Him.
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