Hot Or Cold? -- January 23, 2009

And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Luke 23:48-49

There is a group that often goes unnoticed in sermons and devotions. We see the Pharisees and the soldiers abusing Christ and hating Him. We see the disciples watching from a distance but we often overlook the whole crowd who came out to see what had been done. They were grieved over what had been done but they returned back to their old lives. It seems that things don’t change much.

We have the same thing in the world today. Most don’t hate Jesus. In fact if He would do things just a little differently to meet their expectations they would cheer Him. But these non-haters aren’t lovers of Jesus either. They aren’t like those who followed Him. Even though they didn’t do things just right, (But what do you do if Jesus is dead?) they didn’t disassociate with Him. They expected to die next. Their identity was still followers of Christ.

Each of us has to ask ourselves which group we fall into. Surely none who attend here or any other church is a hater of Jesus, but neutral won’t cut it either. Jesus sent a message through John the beloved to the church at Laodicea to be hot or cold or He would spit them out. When we see that Jesus isn’t going to do things the way we wish do we grieve and go home or do we stand watching. Do we quit or trust Him for the end results--OUR SALVATION!

Watching with You,

Pastor Jason