I want to ask you two questions that I want you to ponder on while you are reading this thought of the week. First is the church/ congregation you are a part of, are they content or complacent? Are you as an individual Christian content or complacent? While you are processing these two questions let me tell you a story. When I was a child and teenager my grandfather had two horses. One was named Dan the other was named Snip. Now Dan was very gentle, he loved to be petted, ridden and hand fed. While he loved to be ridden it was hard to get him to run, and as for eating he would eat whatever my grandfather and I put in his feed box.
Before I go any further I want to mention that Dan and Snip were fat. My grandpa loved these horses very much. He fed them hay, grass, oats, cabbage, apples, etc.. Whenever we fed Dan he would nuzzle us to show how grateful he was. Snip on the other hand was a handful; after all look at her name. She was just the opposite from Dan, she was hard to saddle and hard to ride. She did not like to be petted or groomed. She was never content with what was in her feed box. She was always looking for the grass on the other side of the fence. In fact she would stick her head through the fence and get scratches on her next. She would stop for a while but once the scratches healed she was back to sticking her head through the fence.
Finally my grandfather got the bright idea that if he killed the grass on the other side of the fence she would stop. She did not need the grass on the other side she was well cared for. One day I went to take care of the horses after school. Immediately I had to run back to the house to get grandpa. Snip was bleeding profusely. She had gotten her body wrapped up in the fence trying to get to the grass on the other side. As grandpa and I tried to free her she fought against us making it worse. It wasn’t until Snip passed out that we were able to free her. My grandpa spent a great deal of money caring for Snip after her tangle with the fence. She did eventually heal, but her tissue and muscle was so damaged that she was never able to be useful again. Her compliancy; believing the grass was green on the other side caused her to carry deep scars with her for the rest of her life. She took for granted the love, acceptance, provision and grace of my grandpa and me.
I see a similar story in Genesis chapters 2-3. In chapter 2 we read of the creation of the garden and later that of humanity. I have seen some beautiful landscapes over my lifetime but I can’t imagine the beauty of the garden. Take it to the next level Adam got to name each of the animals. If this wasn’t enough, he got to walk hand in hand with God in the cool of the evening. Adam and Eve got to see God face to face. Yet this was not enough for them. They wanted more, they longed for the grass on the other side of the fence. They had grown complaisant.
This compliancy lead them to take the love and grace of God for granted. Now this story is not new to me. A few years ago, I discovered something new. Now I cannot prove this but I think that there is a long period of time between the close of Genesis 2 and the opening of Genesis 3. I do not think Adam was created on Monday, Eve on Tuesday, sin on Wednesday and booted out of the garden by Thursday. After all it takes a long time to go from contentment to compliancy. Yet they do, they began to believe the lie and tell the lie that the grass is greener on the other side. Compliancy occurs when we are no longer satisfied with God; we want more. Adam and Eve had it all but all of a sudden it was no longer enough so they took their eyes of God. Just like Snip, they found themselves wrapped in barb wire fence. They became so full of scars it would affect all humanity. For the present time they were no good to God, each other or themselves.
Let’s not be too hard on them; after all we have all been complacent at times. Perhaps you are one of those individuals that would rather watch six straight hours of T.V. than read your Bible and pray for an hour. Or maybe you are the person who is trying to do everything in the church. Keeping yourself so busy that you can’t here God calling. Either way these are both signs of compliancy; you are replacing God with other things.
So let me ask you are you content or complacent? Are you seeking more of God; or are you looking for something other than God. Are you Dan and in the barn enjoying the gifts from the one who loves you? Or are you Snip in the barb wire, getting the life drained out of you? May you find your peace and contentment in Christ alone. Food for thought. Pastor Travis out.
