Imagine you’re the boss of a large company and one day while walking around the jobsite you discover some of your employees asleep. Perhaps you’re a merciful person and, after waking them up and warning them not to repeat the offense, you move on.
But they don’t stop taking naps while they’re supposed to be working.
Someone else catches them at it again, sleeping right out in the open as if it were perfectly acceptable and they had no reason to be concerned about anything. But once more they get off with a warning.
Then a day comes when something goes wrong in their area and a raging fire breaks out. Perhaps it happens because of their inattention, perhaps not. Regardless, they’re so sound asleep they never hear any alarms, never have a clue until it’s too late, and they perish.
Because they were asleep.
Does it sound like something from a movie script? Maybe, but I’m sure similar things have occurred. Probably more than once. If, like me, you happen to live surrounded by chemical plants, you know what I mean. I’ve heard stories all my life.
I was thinking about one such story this morning and, as He often does, the Holy Spirit led me in a spiritual direction. Consider the same scenario…not in a company, but in the Church.
I thought about those sleeping employees and how they had been lulled into complacency. I mean, if you’re obviously sleeping on the job and not trying to hide it, you must feel like such behavior is ok. Why? Who did you see doing the same thing? Have you convinced yourself you’re above the rules? Or have you just stopped paying attention?
The truth is, we see the very same thing happening in the Church today. I’m not talking about sleeping in the pews; yes, this happens but is nowhere near as dangerous as what I’m referring to. I’m talking about the large percentage of the Church that has been lulled into complacency and is asleep on the job.
How many think they’ve “got it covered” just because they showed up? They fill their pews on Sunday morning and believe that’s good enough. But it’s not!
Romans 13:11 (NKJV) warns us,
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”
In Revelation 3:1-3, to the church at Sardis Jesus says,
“…I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead… Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain…”
And in 1 Thessalonians 5:6 we see the clear warning,
“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”
Complacency is from the devil. I mean that literally. God leads us in peace. The devil can’t copy peace. The closest he can get is complacency, and he uses it skillfully. He distracts the Christian from what he needs to be doing, encourages him to get comfortable, and drapes a shroud of complacency over him to lull him to sleep.
When I had that thought this morning, alarm bells went off: The Ten Virgins!
In sharing this parable in Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus made it clear that we can’t be complacent. In verse 13, He says,
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
Unlike the five foolish virgins, we must be prepared so that we’re ready to move the instant we hear the alarm. The consequences of failure in the parable were huge to those women.
And they can be huge to us.
The parable of the ten virgins has long been thought to be a reference to the Rapture of the Church, a warning that we must stay prepared if we don’t want to miss that call. Those who study End Time prophecy are well aware that Jesus’ return is unimaginably close, especially given the most recent events in the Middle East.
Don’t let the devil drape you in complacency. Put on the cloak of a warrior and stand up. Keep your eyes on our Lord and go where He leads.
Stay in the Word, stay in prayer, and keep sharing Jesus with everyone you can. Pray for the salvation of those around you. Yes, even pray for your enemies. God doesn’t want anyone to go to Hell, and neither should we.
2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise… but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
1 Timothy 2:3-4
“…God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Don’t let complacency be your downfall.
Stay awake. Stay prepared. Stay in step with the Spirit.
The time is short – and Eternity doesn’t wait.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C