Fragrant incense or rotting meat?

Revelation has always been a mystery to me. I have sat in on many different studies and heard many explanations through the years, and yet this book remains very mysterious. I am OK with that. In fact, I love it. I love scratching my head and wondering what in the world God is up to. I find it offensive when people try so hard to figure God out and get frustrated when they can’t. If we could see the big picture, and by big picture I mean all of eternity, maybe then we could begin to grasp some of the mystery. We however, are much like my wonderful 2-year-old daughter, only fixed on our next hit of hot chocolate to understand the big picture. This is why I embrace the mystery. For me, there is peace found in understanding that I can’t know it all, and there is hope in the fact that I rest in the arms of the One who does.

As I studied this week and explored this section of Revelation, I saw my face every time Laodicea was mentioned. This week we are exploring passion for Christ. Is seems a bit silly that we would need a lesson on remaining passionate for Christ, but apparently that need has been around for quite a while.

Let’s examine briefly what Christ did for us:

• He bridged the unbridgeable gap between God and us.
• He left the beauty of heaven to walk in our dirt and suffer more than we could ever know.
• He died the worst death I can imagine.
• Even though He was sinless, He became sin.
• He took on God’s wrath—which we deserved.
• He freed us from the bonds of sin.
• He rescued us from hell.
• He offers us purpose, peace, hope, and freedom.
• He loved us in our sin, and loves us still despite our sin.
• He rescued us from a path of certain destruction.

The list could go one forever, but for the sake of this blog, I will end it there.

Is there any reason, knowing any of the things Jesus did for us, that our passion would not continue to grow each day? When you sit down and make a list like that, it seems ridiculous that apathy even exists, and even more ridiculous that we are so accustomed to it. But, such is the case today as it was 2,000 years ago with the church at Laodicea.

Why does Christ hate apathy so much? If you did what He did, offered what He offered, bled like He bled, and suffered like He suffered, how would you respond to people who responded with indifference? We are not talking about people who do not believe in Him; we are talking about believers. I am not sure what my reaction would be, but if you read Revelation 3 you will clearly see apathy is so vile that vomiting is the action He chooses. Verse 16 says, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.” Rather than our works and life being a pleasing aroma to our Savior, they have become like rancid meat or rotten milk and will be violently expelled from His mouth. Not the imagery I want to think of very often.

How can we fight apathy? God is good, and He lets us know in the next verses. Christ implores the people to, “Buy from Me gold refined in the fire, white clothes and ointment.” We can search the world over, and run from temporary fix to temporary fix but nothing will satisfy like Christ. Apathy creeps in quietly as we venture away from Christ and begin to “buy” what the world is selling. The Laodiceans had wealth in abundance, much like we do today. That wealth led them to self-dependence and allowed them to “buy” enjoyment from the world. What they thought was fulfilling moved them away from their love and passion for Christ. The world is selling, and selling quite convincingly. We need to hear what Christ is saying and check our hearts and lives to see where we are currently “buying.” My prayer is that together we would all inspect our hearts this week and ask a few tough questions:

• Where am I looking for fulfillment?
• Where am I looking for contentment?
• What is my life offering right now? pleasing aroma or vile taste?
• What can I do today that will move me in the direction of “buying from Him”?
• What are you willing to do to end the apathy in your heart?
• Truly how passionate are you for Christ? How often do you think about all He did just for you and all He offers you today?

I don’t know about you, but this passage hit really close to home this week. In the hustle and bustle of life, apathy thrives. I thank God for the reminder this week to pursue what matters and look to Him each and every day to keep my passion burning hot!