PODCAST
Tough Love
May 5th, 2013
Revelation 3:14-22
My sisters and brothers and I thought our parents were very strict. We believed Mother had eyes in the back of her head. We couldn’t get away with anything! Disobedience often brought punishment. The worst punishment was knowing I had hurt my parents. Of course, they never disciplined the neighbor children, only their own, whom they loved.
God was disappointed with the church at Laodicea. They were casual–lukewarm–in their relationship with him. They were arrogant and self-satisfied. They looked good, and didn’t know they were wasting away inwardly. The possessions they treasured had no lasting value.
They were a terrible disappointment to God. Yet, in spite of their miserable condition, he loved them, as he always had. In love, he called them to return to him in true repentance. In returning, they would find everything they needed–true riches, robes of righteousness, and healing for their spiritual blindness.
To all who return to him, Jesus offers these same gifts today.
Author: Juanita Nelting
