Easy Street comes with it's own set of cautions. Complacency. Pride. Laziness. Freshness.
Recently in my cover-to-cover Bible reading, I came across Asaph and his relatives. Do you remember them? David assigned them to be gatekeepers and singers in the temple so there would be continual praise offered up to God.
They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening. ~1 Chronicles 23:30
When I read this my initial response was “What a cool job to have!” but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if they struggled with just going through the motions. Show up, do the job, go home. No joy. No blessing. Just doing the job.
This is something that many of us struggle with. So how can we stay fresh? Should we just stop and wait until our heart is in it? No, I don't think so.
So many times when I sit and do my Bible reading I find my mind wandering, or I find myself reading, but not really catching what I'm reading. For me, that's going through the motions. Showing up and doing the job. No joy. No blessing. Stale. And it's not what I want. A relationship with God is not just Bible reading and prayer, it's connecting with Him. That's where freshness is found. It's pushing through the crowd so I can reach out and touch the hem of His cloak so I can feel God working in me.
For me, freshness is found by focusing completely on God, His attributes, His holiness, and all He's done for me. When I'm focus on God like that, it's easier for me to remember that Easy Street is from God and not from something that I'm doing right or because I'm so special.
Praising God with our lives while on Easy Street can become routine and stale, and we can be lulled into complacency, laziness and pride if we're not careful. Let's not use Easy Street as a time to rest on our laurels. Let's use it as a time to sink our roots deep into the Living Word so when storms blow in and when a flash flood comes crashing down on us, we'll be grounded in God and already clinging to Him.
Don't let Easy Street lull you into the land of humdrum and rob you of joy.
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Easy street, what's that?
ReplyDeleteNo easy street here at this house.
But, God is at work and that is where I would choose to be every single time!
There is a quote that I love,
The roots grow deep when the winds are strong.
Yes, those roots grow deep by reading His Word, depending on Him, submitting to Him, and saturating ourselves with prayer.
Some of us seem to live on Easy Street while others don't. It's not by choice, but rather by God's design. Sometimes Easy Street is a season that comes and goes, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, roots do grow deep when the storms are raging, but even when life is calm, I've found God to still be working and molding me. All too often it's easy to slack off and just coast spiritually when life is smooth going, and that's what we want to avoid. Use those periods of calm to grow.
Carol Burnett singing, Easy Street, keeps running through my mind now from Annie:) lol.
ReplyDeleteYou're right - when I look at all that's happening around the world, I am so grateful for my easy life but it is easy to put God on the back-burner. Good post, Peej.
This blessed me - and I agree, the seasons may come and go, but the time to stay intimately connected with God is always! He loves us so much, how can we not?
ReplyDelete