Revelation chapter 3, starting in verse 14, shows us Jesus’ words to a church that He is calling out for being lukewarm. It’s the church of Laodicea, and He says He is about to spit them out of His mouth because they are neither hot nor cold.
I wonder… is that you? Are you just feeling neither hot nor cold… just… bland? On the surface, that might sound like something we should respond to with compassion, but Christ is basically saying, “If you’re feeling bland, then paint or get off the ladder.” He’s calling out this church for their lukewarmness, and then we read Jesus say this:
Revelation 3:19 (ESV):
“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”
We need to realize that Jesus calls us out—not to make us feel worse, but to call us to something better. Notice a few things in this verse:
1. We see Jesus’ heart.
2. We see our call to action.
Jesus, in love, reproves and disciplines us. Or you could say, because He loves us, Jesus rebukes us and disciplines us. He calls us out to make us more holy. This is the telos, the end, the purpose of discipline: to become more like Christ.
We are disciplined by Christ through His Spirit and His Word so that we might become more like Him. Charles Spurgeon preached on this passage, saying that sometimes ministers need to bring words that are sweet as honey… but other times, ministers need to be “the rod of God,” because people need to be put in check.
Spurgeon said that, on this occasion, he was delivering one of those “rod of God” messages. He assumed people would dislike the sermon because it was a direct call out. But to his surprise, a man came forward afterward, thanking him repeatedly for the message. Then the man said, “This is exactly the type of message a friend of mine needs to hear.” Spurgeon replied, “The message wasn’t for your friend—it was for you.”
God brought this message to this man because He loves him! If we are not experiencing course correction from God’s Word and God’s Spirit from time to time, then we should pause and ask: Are we truly following God’s path, and are we in God’s love?
Jesus says that those He loves, He rebukes and disciplines. So what do we do when those times come? Christ tells us:
Be zealous and repent.
Be zealous because we are loved. Repent because we are disciplined.
The word zealous is fascinating in Greek—it’s a sort of onomatopoeia. Do you know what onomatopoeia is? They are words that sound like what they describe, like “sizzle.” The Greek word is zay-lo, the root of our English words zeal and zealous. For the Greeks, evokes images of boiling water—a zeal that is burning, overflowing with commitment, a heart fully engaged in love for God.
How can a person stand in the love of God and feel bland? Often, it’s because we think we are in God’s love but have wandered off His path—a path marked with reproof and discipline. If that’s you—feeling stagnant in your faith—it’s because you’ve forgotten to truly feel God’s love, which comes through correction but always for our good. You may remember that God loves you—or at least know that Jesus died for you—but do you know it in your core? And if you do, how could you be anything but hot or cold?
Be zealous and repent.
Following Christ requires constant course correction. We are like vehicles whose alignment is off. We know the destination, but our natural inclination is to veer left or right. We need to keep our hands on the wheel, staying between the lines as we follow Christ.
Revelation 3:19 (ESV):
“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”
Yes, we know God loves us because He showed His love in the greatest way possible: by giving His one and only Son to die for us on the Cross and by rising again, bringing us into eternal life and giving us a seat in God’s Kingdom. And it is this love that calls us, corrects us, and sets our hearts ablaze with zeal for Him. It can feel hard at times, but that should only be a reminder that it’s real, and it’s for our good.
