All In Devotional - Matthew WestSample

All In – Matthew West

In Revelation 3:16, the church at Laodicea is criticized for being lukewarm: “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” The city sat too far from the mountains to receive cold water and too far from the hot springs to receive hot water. It was literally a city of lukewarm water. Cold water is for drinking. Hot water is for bathing. Lukewarm water is for…nothing. 

Laodicea was wealthy, and they grew content in their wealth, dependent on it. Because of this, they didn’t see their spiritual poverty, and so the church grew useless for the Kingdom. They were lukewarm literally and figuratively. 

My feet are frozen on this middle ground

The waters warm here the fires gone out

Played it safe for so long the passion left

Turns out safe is just another word for regret

The opposite of lukewarm is being all in, or, all out. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matt. 12:30). There is no middle ground when it comes to following Christ. You are either following him, or you are following something, or someone, else. 

In many ways, it’s easier to live a lukewarm life. If we’re not all in, we have less to lose. Going all in requires vulnerability and it requires faith. You can live a life without either of these, but is that the life Christ intended for us?

I’m going all in

Headfirst into the deep end

I hear you calling

And this time the fear won’t win

Jesus tells us he is worth the risk: “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Going all in with Christ will not disappoint you; it will bring you life. Right after Jesus says this, he points to his ultimate act of being all in: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). 

Jesus was so all in that he gave his life for us so that that we may have life to the full, so that we might live all in.