“FlatLine /?flæt?la?n/…!”

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

The patient was fading fast, and doctors expected him to flatline [die] before the night was over. In his fading state, he hears a voice…. Are you sure you want change your mind God asks?  What more can I do to prove my love to you?  You see, “Break up to make up, that’s all we do… First you love me then you hate me… That’s a game fool’s play… We have got to get together or we’re through…” [The Stylistics]. “Choose you this day Whom you will serve…” [Joshua 24:14-16]. “After all the things that we’ve been through… you should understand me like I understand you… As long as we’ve been together it should be so easy to do… get yourself together or we might as well say goodbye….. what good is a love affair if we can’t see eye to eye…” [Harold Melvin/The Blue Notes].

I tell you it’s hard to imagine a more direct approach than the one taken by Jesus here.  “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” [[Revelation 3:15]. Listen, God doesn’t want you to be lukewarm in your relationship with Him. He doesn’t want you to drift away from Him. He wants you to pursue a relationship with Him that grows stronger and deeper each day.  I want you to know that your love relationship with God is more important than any other single factor in your life. You were created by God to have a loving, intimate relationship with Him. God wants intimacy with you. His question, “Do you love me?” was not just for Peter but for all of us. There’s nothing that I’d rather do than spend every moment with you says God. You must choose your love and then maintain your choice: you either love Me or the world, but not both [John 2:15]. “To love and be loved in return. It’s the only thing that my heart desires.  Just appreciate the little things I do. I tell you we can build a world of love, a life of joy. Let’s make our goal each other’s happiness.” Seize the moment. Seize the time.  Seize the day.

I want you to know that in [1 Kings 17:8-16], a widow was facing her worst nightmare: she had a meal left for herself and her son. Death was mockingly starring at her. Then came a visitor sent by God. He made her an offer and she accepted it. Death was disappointed and put to shame. The woman lived better than she ever lived. This season, the Lord will visit you. Prepare for His visit. Get rid of every sin in your life. Obey Him completely. Be prayerful and sensitive to His call.

I also what you to know that the Lord does not compel us anymore than he compelled Peter. We are not forced to love God any more than we want to or any more than we are ready to. But the beauty is that each little bit of ourselves we do give over to the Lord is received by Him and transformed by His love into something greater. Peter learned the hard way what it means to love Jesus. He had vociferously declared his unfailing devotion to Him more than once. Yet when the chips were down, Peter’s self-confessed love failed and he openly denied three times that he even knew Jesus. His vaunted courage proved to be nothing but empty talk when facing a threatening situation. Don’t let that be said about you. In [John 14:15] Jesus put it plainly: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” In verse 21 He added, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me” (cf. 15:10). As the Lord’s message was to the church at Sardis, so is it to each one of us: Check Your Spiritual Pulse. He, who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! [Deuteronomy 30:19].

Author: Lou Coleman