Are You Too Comfortable?
Yes, we all like to be comfortable. We surround ourselves with the most advanced technology, cars loaded with features, large, warm homes, cozy beds, soft recliners, comfort food, and anything and everything we can find and afford to make our lives more comfortable.
Did God intend for your life to be comfortable?
Unfortunately, this mindset is all too prevalent in our spiritual lives as well. Our church buildings are heated and cooled (and even that is often complained about), we have padded pews, all the latest and greatest technology, and yet it seems even with that we are not satisfied. In fact, in many places fewer and fewer people are attending worship on a regular basis. Those who do often sleep through the sermon, lack enthusiasm, and generally leave unaffected by the word of God and unchanged.
To “remedy” this many elderships and pulpits have acquiesced to the masses to make the preaching more comfortable. We don’t like to be made to feel uncomfortable inside or out. But just like God warned Israel we need to heed to the admonition of “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1).
Because of this ease there is, like there was then, a famine of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11). Maybe the fact that there was a famine of hearing was the root cause of their ease in the first place. The sower needs to be careful how he sows, but the soil must be receptive too! In order for the ground to be prepared to be receptive it must first be broken up. Maybe we need to seek a little discomfort, a little “breaking up” of our hearts. A little humility and godly sorrow. A little love for the Lord and for our own souls.
Comfort and ease leads to atrophy and death. A little pain and suffering in “working out” our own salvation is what is needed in order to be strong and faithful.