AMOS 6:1-7 ARE YOU SURE?

1 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come! 2 Go to Calneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours? 3 You put off the evil day and bring near a reign of terror. 4 You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. 5 You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. 6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. 7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.

The fallen side of security is complacency.

When we become secure, or at least achieve the feeling of security, we have the tendency to drift into complacency which quickly morphs into presumption. I have a good salary and job performance record, so I can stretch to buy that house. My investment portfolio is well diversified and performing well, so I will be set for life. I have never felt better, so I don’t need to schedule a physical. The professor has always extended the due date for class papers, so I’ll just tell him that I’ll turn it in by the end of the week. In each case, and many, many more, we consider our condition secure and presume that it will always be.

Several years ago in Minneapolis commuters were driving their cars across the bridge like they had done at least twice a day for as long as they worked on the other side of the river. Then the unthinkable happened. Right there in the middle of rush hour the bridge collapsed. That event should serve as a metaphor for our complacency when it comes to our relationship with God. For each of us there has been at least one time in our walk that we felt the presence of the Lord and we went through our day paying special attention to what we thought and did because of our cognizance of God. In contrast, most of our days are spent virtually unconscious of God’s presence. Yes, we know that he is there, but that knowledge has little practical effect on our day.

While it may not have much effect on our earthly life, it could have a major effect on our kingdom life. We are the ones who have changed, while God remains eternally the same. What that means is that God’s requirements for our reconciliation with him do not change. The way to the Father is Jesus and the way to Jesus is to repent and believe – constantly. It isn’t complicated and it isn’t magic, it’s just a matter of following him. It is a matter of obedience.

Lord God, I am always looking for the magic formula and the easy way to achieve eternal security. But you, Lord, are trying to engage me in the messy, difficult and continuous work of relationship. Help me to count the cost of discipleship and willingly invest my life in you. Protect me from mistakenly finding my security in anything other than you and from arrogant presumption in my relationship with you. Amen.