Today's "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers is another great lesson!
The Spiritually Lazy Saint
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and
good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… —Hebrews
10:24-25
We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want
to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a
peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from
Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves
together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first
step toward Christ-realization, not the initiative toward self-realization. To
live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to
spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.
The true test of our spirituality occurs when we come up
against injustice, degradation, ingratitude, and turmoil, all of which have the
tendency to make us spiritually lazy. While being tested, we want to use prayer
and Bible reading for the purpose of finding a quiet retreat. We use God only
for the sake of getting peace and joy. We seek only our enjoyment of Jesus
Christ, not a true realization of Him. This is the first step in the wrong
direction. All these things we are seeking are simply effects, and yet we try
to make them causes.
“Yes, I think it is right,” Peter said, “…to stir you up by
reminding you…” (2 Peter 1:13). It is a most disturbing thing to be hit
squarely in the stomach by someone being used of God to stir us up— someone who
is full of spiritual activity. Simple active work and spiritual activity are
not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual
activity. The real danger in spiritual laziness is that we do not want to be
stirred up— all we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world.
Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement— He says, “Go and tell
My brethren…” (Matthew 28:10).
I remember when I was first born again that everyone of our Christian friends would speak of having a Christian community where we could feel free to worship God and be taught His Word! That is NOT why we are here! We are here to run our race right through to the Finish Line! To do all that we can do and then to trust HIM to do the rest! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "So Will I":
Shalom in Him!
