Scripps National Spelling Bee has a new champion and her name is Kavya Shivashankar. She is 13 and from the state of Kansas. The word that she spelled to win is what I find the most interesting. “Laodicean”, is a word that is rare to hear and a word that is hard to spell. I commend this young person for winning the competition, but also for spelling such a tough word.
That word is one that evokes to Christians a very strong warning. The Bible records, “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; …” (Rev. 3:14) So we read that there is a place called Laodicea and there is a church there that receives a direct letter from God. With that, God lays out His knowledge of the church there and what He wants, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” (Rev. 3:15) God wants His “church of the Laodiceans” to pick a degree – either on fire for Him or just plain cold.
The tone gets even stronger in the next verse, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16) God is very blunt to the church – “You’re lukewarm and it makes me SICK! And sick to the point of vomiting!”
“Laodicean”, is not such a word in a competition of spelling, but a word that ought to awaken the Christian’s heart and walk. It is a word that ought cause Christians to examine their hearts and evaluate their relationship with God. That word means more than any definition that could be assigned to it. It is a word of warning and wooing.
The ultimate question than to the Christian is – What’s it going to be: Hot or Cold? Because Lukewarm is not option.
