As I hurriedly rushed to get ready for work this morning, a thought popped into my mind that, “Complacency killed the cat”. So, I decided to take a few minutes and put my ear phones in to be in the moment with the Holy Spirit. What better way to prepare for attacks than with the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Fire, the Spirit of Faithfulness, the Spirit of Healing, the Spirit of Righteousness, the Spirit of Goodness and Love, and the Spirit of I’ve Got Your Back. But, what happens when we become complacent? What happens when we become smug, play into self-satisfaction, self-approval, self-approbation, self-admiration, gloating, pride, carelessness, slackness, laxity or laziness.
It’s so easy to get lost in self everyday. Then we wonder why we don’t hear or feel God. We disconnect ourselves when we worship self. Jeremiah 6:14 “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. When we make God a superficial, lazy, fix to all our wounds we will never get better, nor will we ever grow spiritually. We cannot be complacent when it comes to spiritual grow because if we can’t walk with our Father then how are we to lead others to that walk with Him.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” I love the beginning of the book of Genesis. We are made in their likeness and have been given dominion over all things of this earth. Their is in reference of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God gave mankind such magnificent responsibilities and they are not responsibilities to be complacent with. We are also responsible over helping others find their way to Christ. This doesn’t mean pushing and shoving someone to Christ because he would never approve of that kind of behavior. People are already guarded from the pains of religions and it’s hard to get them to open up to the real Jesus. So, we must be careful in the way we present ourselves to others.
In John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. Jesus was never complacent nor disconnected in his ministry. He chose his battles strategically and wisely. He was confidently simple and to the point. But, he also spoke in parables to keep people attentive. He presented himself in a resolute manner. Those that actively sought him understood. Those that hated him remained confused. He kept people engaged throughout his ministry. And that’s exactly how we are to be.
Revelation 3:16 reminds us: “So because you are lukewarm. and neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth.” Now I really don’t like lukewarm liquids, that’s for the birds! I like ice cold tea, refrigerated juices, hot cocoa and hot coffee. No lukewarm for me, yuck. God does not want His people to be lukewarm or lax. Keep a short leash on your sin and be on fire for Him. Jesus brought you a one on one relationship with God. And he even fought hard for the darkest of souls to make a way out of their chains.
If you positively knew that people would go to a dark place filled with nothing but loneliness and pain, cut off from love and light, then how would you react? Would you shrug your shoulders and say oh well? Would you say that’s to much of an effort you had to make that day? Jesus wasn’t complacent when he spoke against the government and religious leaders that suppressed and murdered people who wanted God personally in their lives, the poor, and hopeless. He wasn’t complacent when he fought for our religious freedom. He wasn’t complacent in bringing you The Kingdom of God. The day will come when the Word of God will be removed from this earth and the earth will not be aloud to have that freedom anymore. So be kind and diligent when it comes to sharing Christ’s truth, someone’s eternity depends on it. Christ was not complacent, so neither should we be. Don’t be the cat that complacency killed.
