Those Who Are at Ease and Complacent

In Amos 6:1 it is written: “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria, notable persons in the chief nation, to whom the house of Israel comes!” We have an amazingly good life in the church, both spiritually and in earthly terms, but in our personal lives we must be watchful that a sense of ease and complacency does not creep in that would cause our spiritual growth to come to a halt. When you have overcome manifest sins and reached a certain “stage” in life, it is easy to slip into a superficial and carefree life. It can become a sort of paradise life where poverty in spirit and hunger and thirst for righteousness quickly disappear. You “surf” through the waves of life without a deeper and deeper salvation taking place, in a sense of need and acknowledgment of your own sin.

In 1 Cor. 10:1-12, Paul exhorts us to take what happened to Israel as an example and a warning to us, so that we do not desire evil things. For example, he writes in verse 7: “And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’” When seriousness and the fear of God disappear, red warning lights should go off for us, because there is danger ahead in our spiritual lives. Then we need a genuine spiritual awakening so that we do not sleep regarding the opportunities we have received through the gospel, and the future that God desires for us who have received a heavenly calling.

When Moses and Joshua returned from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the law, as it is written in Exodus 32, they heard the sound of singing as they approached the camp. It was not a shout of victory they heard, and as they drew closer they saw that the people were dancing around the golden calf, and that Aaron had allowed them to revel in idolatry. Then Moses became zealous and threw down the tablets of the law and shattered them. He took the golden calf, ground it to dust, and threw it into the fire. Then he stood at the entrance to the camp and said: “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him and were consecrated as priests to the Lord that day. May we truly have the same mindset as the sons of Levi, so that we break free from everything that would bind and hinder us in the race. May nothing we can look up to or worship here on earth prevent us from serving the living God with a whole and burning heart!

In Isa. 52:1-2 there is a glorious exhortation: “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!” It may well be that we have fallen into a false sense of security, a carefree attitude, and perhaps even bad habits, and we feel that life is not as it should be in light of the high and holy calling we have. Then the exhortation rings out: “Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck.” If you need to get a car out of a rut, you have to turn the steering wheel sharply so you can get back onto the road. It is the same in our lives—it takes zeal and determination to bring everything into its rightful order. Then we experience peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and receive an assurance that we are on the way. We stay the course and are heading toward eternal glory together with all the saints!