I love it when God takes something practical and gives me a way to apply it to my spiritual life. It is one of my favorite ways that He speaks to me in my life. And this morning He once again did this on my drive into work. To me, one of the coolest inventions when it comes to cars is cruise control. It is something I use every single day on my way to work. I set it and never have to worry about getting a speeding ticket. And knock on wood, for 17 years now I have not gotten a ticket on my 30 minute drive to and from work. But one of the things I also have to be careful about when I use it is how unaware it makes me of part of my driving. It is one part of driving, that when I use it, I don't really think about. So if something jumps out in front of me, or someone pulls out in front of me, I am not as ready to deal with that situation. My foot isn't as close to the break and I am not as prepared to react as I could be. And that has happened to me over the years. As I was driving today I thought about the dangers of putting our spiritual life on "cruise control". We do it because we become comfortable with the "drive". We've been saved for a while and life just seems pretty "normal" to us now. We have God, isn't everything okay now?
In 1 Peter 5:8 it says "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour". These God breathed words would not be in the bible if He felt that once we accepted Christ into our life we could just put everything on cruise control. Like driving, in our spiritual life if we just set the cruise and go on about our business we can become very unprepared for the things that are going to catch us off guard. This verse says "be vigilant", which by definition means "keep careful watch for possible danger and difficulties". When we become complacent, comfortable...or even lazy, in our Christian walk we begin to lose our ability to be vigilant. Yet God warns us that the enemy is always looking for someone to devour.
So how do we prevent complacency from setting in? By being mindful and purposeful of staying close to God. What music do you fill your head with, what people are you allowing to influence you, how much time are you in God's word or in prayer speaking and listening to Him? How much are you asking God to use you...or allowing Him to challenge you to go deeper with him?
Even the best things, like cruise control and comfort, can be dangerous to us if we are not careful. Comfort in knowing that Christ paid the price to make a way for you to have eternal life is a great thing. Complacency that you're "good to go" because you prayed that prayer and you attend church once a week...not a good thing. Be vigilant and be purposeful in your walk with Jesus! Allow Him to have a place in your life where He can show you how He wants to take you deeper and use you in ways you may not have uncovered yet.
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