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| The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge Prov. 18:15 |
Complacency. The word came up in a church council meeting this week, regarding how easy it is for us to fall into it when it comes to our faith.
Oddly enough, the word traveled through my dreams last night. Over and over again I heard it, coupled with thoughts about finding a way to write about it. So here goes:
This is the first of a three-part blog on complacency. Today's discussion surrounds the complacency we experience in growing our faith.
Complacency, can mean a lot of things, but the definition I'm thinking of is this: contentment or satisfaction. With our faith. As it currently is.
It's easy to get comfortable with where we are at as Christians, forgetting that to mature in our faith we have to keep moving forward, keep reading the word, keep listening for God's voice.
We get busy with our job, trying to make ends meet, raising children, doing all the things we think are important. We leave our faith to chance. The chance that we are going to learn everything we need to know in the one hour we spend at church on Sunday.
But the truth is, to know God's hope and plan for us, we need to take time to crack open our bibles. And I know that cracking them open is one thing and understanding what is written there is well another. It might be a reason one avoids reading it all together.
But there is help for that. I use the NIV Life Application Bible, and I don't think I could have read the bible or understood much of it without the Life Application piece. In this type of bible there are tons of notes, explanations, and, well, life applications.
We need not worry that even with these helpers we don't quite "get" the bible. We will. Like children, we are given to understanding based on our maturity.
There is so much more to know about our Christian faith. So we must keep reading, keep growing in our faith, seeking more understanding of God's word.
As an amusing side note, as an author, I get very excited when I hear that someone read and enjoyed my book. Personally, when I to get to heaven I want to have the right answer when God, in a very excited , hopeful tone, asks: "Did you read my book?" :_)
What is keeping you from reading God's word? Start with the new testament, read a few verses of John. Tomorrow read a few more verses. We don't read the bible in a few sittings, it's a continuous study; one with which we shouldn't be complacent.
Leave me a comment; I'd love to hear your take on this!
Also, watch for my continuing discussion on dealing with complacency. Next up: complacency in tithing. Ouch, huh?
God Bless,
Rita
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