Settled In Complacency

Settled in Complacency

Zephaniah 1:12-1:13

Sometimes Christians entertain very foolish and dangerous thoughts such as;

Don’t get too concerned, keep things as they are, let someone else take care of it, set back, relax, and see what is going on. After all God will work things for us, or don’t get to involved if you can avoid it.

When life is good, easy, and comfortable. God becomes a God of last resort.

When we are in need, we usually take God more seriously. But when we are comfortable, and at ease, and prosperous, it is easier to become complacent about God and his kingdom.

Satan is more than willing to keep us complacent, to keep us lazy.

An ancient story recalls how Satan once summoned his top three aides to plan how to stop a group of dedicated Christians from effective missionary work.

One of the lieutenants, Rancor, said to Satan, "We should convince them that there is no God." Satan sneered at Rancor and replied, "That would never work. They know that there is a God."

Another of Satan’s aides, Bitterness, spoke up. "We’ll convince them that God does not really care about right or wrong." Satan toyed with the notion for a few moments, but rejected it because he knew that too many Christians know that God does care.

Malice, the third satanic helper, came up with his idea. "We’ll let them go on thinking that there is a God and that He cares about right and wrong. But we will keep whispering that there is no hurry, there is no hurry."

Satan howled with glee. He advanced Malice higher in his malevolent organization. Satan knew that he would find this stratagem successful with many, many Christians.

Frank S. Mead

Scripture

Zeph 1:12-13 NKJV

12 And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,

And punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, ’The LORD will not do good, Nor will He do evil.’

Zeph 1:12 NASU

12 "It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, ’The LORD will not do good or evil!’

Zeph 1:12 TLB

12 "I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indifferent to God, thinking he will let them alone.

Prayer

A "stagnant, indifferent, complacent Christian" is an abomination to Christ. He calls upon the God for a self-righteous satisfaction. He calls upon God for blessings, and in times of trouble. But he has no intention of making Jesus the lord of his life, the purpose of his life, his way of life.

Our Lord said He would rather a man be cold, utterly without profession to be Christian, rather than medium, lukewarm, "moderate."

* Remember that "average" is simply the best of the poorest and the poorest of the best.

Being settled in complacency leaves us weak for Satan’s evil, immoral attacks

A parable told by a Haitian pastor to illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ.

A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.

After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So first the owner went out found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

The Haitian pastor’s conclusion: "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation."

Complacency is that Peg!

Dale A Hays, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 2.

WHEN WE HAVE SETTLED INTO COMPLACENCY, IT BECOMES A CANCER THAT NOT ONLY WEAKENS BUT DESTROYS IN TIME

1. Lowers your determination

Judg 16:16-17 (NLT) day after day she nagged him until . . . Samson told her his secret.

Samson had become so complacent about his God-given responsibility as a leader that he gave in and told Delilah the secret to his strength. He thought it wouldn’t matter; he thought everything would still be just fine. Samson’s complacency was a sin, because he disobeyed God’s command not to let his hair be shaved, and he let down his entire nation.