"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15,16 NIV)
I was sharing at church yesterday about being empowered to live a consistent Christian life. As I was preaching the Lord reminded me of a baseball game I'd attended last week my son played in. You've all been there. The umpire behind the plate calls a pitch that definitely is NOT within the strike zone, a "strike". Then just a few pitches later, a pitch that's thrown in the same area of the, NOT within the strike zone, the umpire calls a "ball" this time. Goodness, at least be consistently bad! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the respect level for this umpire has diminished for not being consistent.
I began to use this illustration to refer to our lives. Sometimes we're on a spiritual high and nothing can penetrate us. Then the next moment, we've been flattened like a nail pierced tire on the side of the interstate. Or maybe there's the one that knows to do good but doesn't. Or maybe there's the one that lives for the Lord today but knows they have full intentions of not living for Him tomorrow. No wonder Christians have lost the respect of others just like the inconsistent umpire behind the plate. At least be consistently bad behind the plate or consistently good behind the plate.
We need to have consistency in our relationship with Christ. We must learn to start each day with prayer and devotion to the Lord. Maybe if we get into the habit of prayer and devotion each day, our walk with Christ may start to be consistent. We may start seeing a pattern of consistency in our prayers being answered, our attitude being joyful, our relationships with others being fruitful. Let's start trying to live consistent Christian lives so that when people speak of Christians today, the respect factor for what we believe in will be upheld instead of diminished.
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