Lukewarm of Boiling Over

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

LUKEWARM OR BOILING OVER

Rom 12:9-13

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

NIV

It is now time to consider the exhortation to never be lacking in zeal, but that we are to keep of spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. It would be good to explore the Greek words to give us more insight into this pattern in our lives. First, this word that is translated as lacking we notice the Greek word, spudee, has the direct meaning haste, as well as it, can be used for earnestness or diligence. So in that sense not ever being lacking, would fit well as we are to earnestly and diligently with haste, that is not wasting any time or not being slothful, as the Greek word okneros means, in our spiritual fever. Once again another Greek word that is translated as fever, means to be boiling hot. It reminds us of what Jesus said that he would rather us be ice cold or boiling hot, but that if we are lukewarm, he will spit us out of his mouth. However, being cold is not an option, so then we must be boiling hot or else we are going to be spat out of Jesus’s mouth. That is a frighting thought. There is no room for being lukewarm, which means simply accepting that we are Christian because we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we do a few good deeds whenever it is convenient, which does not interfere with our daily lives in this world. Maybe that is all that is required of us, but then that does not fit the criteria of never lacking in zeal, but keeping our spiritual fever, being boiling hot, in our serving the Lord. This picture of boiling hot reminds us of a pot of water on the stove. When the water is simply lukewarm, it appears the same as when it was cold as we filled it, but when the heat brings it to a boil, the water is dancing around, bubbling up, and if the pot was full to the brim, the water would be spitting all over the stove. This is how we are to be in our spiritual fever, boiling over, spilling out all over as we serve our Lord. What we absolutely want to avoid is simply being lukewarm, but we should always be boiling over.