“Because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  Revelations 3:16

It was 23 degrees on a January morning back in the 90s; sitting in my office, my phone rang, and an emotional voice, said, “Mr. Smith, come quickly.  There’s a man down over in the hopper car loading area, I think he’s dead.”. . . . He was. . .  One of the contractors, a 27-year-old, father of three – fell 22 feet from the top of a hopper rail car to the hard frozen ground and gray “chat” gravel, landing on his forehead  There’s a lot of story there which I don’t have time to review, but that was back before base layers, and thin insulation.  He had on multiple layers, and Coveralls, with boots.  OSHA concluded that he must have gotten tripped up because he was so bundled up in bulky clothing.

I had come back to a chemical plant because God gave me a short-term window of success as an Environmental Consultant – my own one-man company – another story of peaks and valley.  I had a strong background and reputation with the regulatory agencies, and this company hired me because they were having issues with the State and had neighbor lawsuits pending.  I walked into a mess that we would gradually work out . Safety was part of my job, and I was not really a Safety Professional at the time. Nevertheless, I realized that morning the most important job I had was Safety.  And for the rest of my career, I was committed.  I worked with 1000s of employees since then, and we never had another fatality.

The world is a mess; my life at times is a mess; it may have been Ann Voskamp who said we are all messes.  We all are broken, and sinful and all fall short of the glory of God. 

Nevertheless, my point is not about my fallen nature in recalling that chilly sad morning; I just thought I had some bad days at work before that day. My point is about commitment. Despite the chaos around us, or conversely how much we are enamored with ourselves, how exciting the world may seem to us, we can’t lose sight of what is important.

God takes a very dim view of lukewarm commitment as seen in today’s opening verse. In Isaiah 29:13 we read, “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

It is not my job to condemn or judge, that’s up to God.  I know that I truly believe in my heart of hearts; I know I want to serve, and I want God to get the glory. I fail daily as the Apostle Paul says, “¹⁹ For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”   Romans 7:19. And that irritates me, and bugs me, and I can get down on myself way too easily. Nevertheless, with the Holy Spirit’s intervention I am not and will not be defeated.

I heard an interesting message driving home today on the demise of the traditional (Judeo-Christian) values that our country was founded upon.  There are multiple reasons that we have drifted, but perhaps one of the most significant is the milk-soppiness of God’s Church.

Jesus says, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13 KJV.

We can’t let the world lure us into its empty promises or be spineless because of political correctness. I am not the offender when I return to the truth of the Word, it’s the offense of the Cross . . .  If Jesus is our model, He surely was not a people pleaser. I can be either lukewarm or I can commit.

I began with a Safety story.  I didn’t like Safety people because they were like Barney Fife, nerds, always threatening, etc.  Then one day I am over Safety.  It took an awful industrial incident to wake me up to how important safety is – how valuable and fragile human life is.  I would finish my career as a Safety example – a speaker at National Conventions, working in plants with people from all over the world in all types of settings, focused upon individual commitment, not compliance – I am of the opinion we are all rule breakers.  (Do you ever speed? lol)

Jesus, the Light of the World,  says, “Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” Let your light shine before men.

Today, was a day of personal examination of my commitment to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  My flesh will often fail, but with the Holy Spirit, I can truly do all things and be his Image Bearer.  I don’t know where you are in your faith walk.  That’s between you and God.  I just know He wants my commitment, not lip service,

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:15.