Recently, I had to complete a log book to be submitted for examination. But in the final week when I realized that it was still far from finished, I ended up spending three straight nights immediately after work to finish it off! How could this have happened? I had worked studiously on it for 17 months. Yet the hard truth was that I had become complacent in the final month. 

Sometimes complacency can creep into our faith as well. And when it does, it can undo all our life’s good work in the Lord—the close communion we have with God and with brethren, the grace He affords us, even our salvation.

The Israelites were warned by God for being at ease (Isa 32:9-12). They were the chosen people of God, His own special nation, yet somehow they got to the point where they even forgot God’s basic requirements. God called them to actively go back to the basics: “Hear my voice… give ear to my speech.” He warned them that failure to do this would lead to disastrous consequences, saying: “I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency” (Zeph 1:12b). Furthermore, God told them to strip themselves bare and gird sackcloths, meaning that they were to totally humble themselves.

When we too become at ease in our faith, our standards begin to drop little by little. The simple things we diligently worked on in our faith no longer matter as much in our eyes—this is when things begin to go downhill. But God is calling us to come out of our ease, and to totally humble ourselves before Him.

It is at this stage that we must rise up and diligently work on the basics again: Do we wholeheartedly seek out God’s message from the Bible? Do we sincerely bring ourselves before Him in prayer? Do we conscientiously seek to please God every day? 

Just as finishing my log book required diligence until completion, our journey of faith requires our attentiveness right until the end.

            Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. (Mk 13:33)

Questions for Reflection

1.      Have you been complacent in your life?  In your faith?

2.      If so, what actions can you take to make this right before God?