Business As Usual

 



"Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh. . ."

Mark 13:35

At times we can be so tired, busy, distracted or comfortable that we become complacent.  Complacency is a dangerous place to dwell.  It is a place where we react rather than being aware, analyzing situations and taking appropriate action.  It is far too easy to fall into a mindset of  complacency and miss opportunities to negate risk to ourselves and others. 

Living in a wooded area, our family enjoys feeding the wildlife.  The array of colorful birds that the birdfeeders attract is a source of entertainment for us.  The antics of the squirrel's acrobatics in attempting to loot the feeders is humorous.  We have a large picture window from which we view the action.  Over the years birds have crashed into the window, sometimes fatally and sometimes with a glancing blow that stuns them.  When my children were little we would run out to see if the bird could be saved.  We would keep them from the fate of being found by our cat.  We saved numerous small birds, mostly house wrens.  We would put them in a shoebox and sit it on the top of our garden arch, giving them a chance to shake off the blow. 

One morning we had a doctor's appointment and I was rushing to finish to get there on time.  I was in my bedroom blow-drying my hair and my youngest daughter came running in crying that a bird had crashed into the window.  Without a thought I said, "Put him in a shoebox and we will see if he is ok."  I continued rushing to get ready and she walked into the bedroom with a shoebox containing a Pileated Woodpecker!  Expecting a wren or a sparrow I was shocked to see this huge bird looking dizzily at me with one eye.  I looked at him and he looked at me, I don't know who was more surprised.  I screeched, "Put it down. . . that thing could peck your eyes out!"  He was either so dazed that he was incapacitated, or he was just glad the cat hadn't found him before my daughter.  We left him on top of the arch and he was gone when we returned.  So my daughter is a bird whisperer and I should pay more attention.  This is a cute story that could have turned out badly.  We can't always think that life is business as usual.


Scripture speaks of this condition and how detrimental complancency is to our spiritual health.  We are told to wait and watch for Jesus' return numerous times.  One example is Matthew 24:42,

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."  It behooves us greatly to keep the Lord's return at the forefront of our minds and prayers.  It changes the way that we operate our lives and it changes our prayers.  Revelation 1:1 opens the last book of the Bible with these words, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. . ."  The phrase "shortly come to pass" is translated in part, from the Greek word, tachos.  Many have used this translation to support the preterist view that the prophecies of the Bible have already occurred.  They theorize that if these things were shortly coming to pass at the writing in approximately AD 96, that 1900 plus years later that they surely have.  This Greek word tachos speaks of suddeness, quickness and speed.  II Peter 3:10 tells us,"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."  What Revelation 1:1 is saying is that these things will come quickly and without warning.  Complacency is a deadly matter in spiritual currency.

Patti

 

Dear Lord,

Thank You for Your Word.  I love and praise You.  Please help us to dig deeper into scripture to understand exactly what it is that You are saying to us.  Please help us to not be complacent and look at life as business as usual, because everything can and will change in an instant.  Lord, I pray that You put Your arms around people who are hurting and are in need of the emotional healing that only You can give.  Thank You for our service men and women and for all the valiant souls who have fought for the freedom of others on this earth.  Lord, please bless the families of those who have lost their loved ones in battle.  Thank You.
Amen