Ronald Meredith, in his book Hurryin' Big For Little Reasons, describes one quiet night in early spring: Suddenly out of the night came the sound of wild geese flying. I ran to the house and breathlessly announced the excitement I felt. What is to compare with wild geese across the moon? It might have ended there except for the sight of our tame mallards on the pond. They heard the wild call they had once known.
The honking out of the night sent little arrows of prompting deep into their wild yesterdays. Their wings fluttered a feeble response. The urge to fly--to take their place in the sky for which God made them-- was sounding in their feathered breasts, but they never raised from the water. The matter had been settled long ago. The corn of the barnyard was too tempting! Now their desire to fly only made them uncomfortable. Temptation is always enjoyed at the price of losing the capacity for flight.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "complacency" as: self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.
In Amos Chapter 6, he brings an indictment against his nation, Israel. Amos indicts the people with being guilty of apathy and indifference toward God and toward the state of the nation. They were a chosen nation and they knew God's law. This made their sin greater.
So what are the conditions and causes of this calm contentment by the people that had Amos so upset at them? Let's take a look...
Conditions of complacency described in (Amos 6: 1-6).
a. Their customs , dress, and perfumes were the richest (ver.4).
b. They enjoyed the richest foods and delicacies available ( ver. 4).
c. The pursuit of pleasure was their chief objective (ver. 5).
d. They were given over to drunkeness (ver. 6).
The causes of this complacency.
The people were living in a postwar period when their nation enjoyed unrivaled national power and prosperity. Religious activities were popular.
a. They placed great trust in military resources for security (Amos 6:1)
b. They had a tendency to dismiss all serious thought concerning the possibility of peril for their nation (Amos 6:3)
c. The pursuit of profit and prosperity was of supreme importance (Amos 6:4)
d. Their hard-heartedness was indicated by the lack of grief and compassion for the sickness of their nation (Amos 6:6)
Calamity and captivity were to befall the nation.
Amos was probably considered as a radical, pessimistic, religious fanatic who did not know what he was talking about. He warned the nation concerning the judgment of God and the advance of the enemy. (Amos 6:1, 7, 9-11, 14)
Some people look upon the prophets as prophets of doom who offered no hope to their nation. The fact that God was using them as his spokesmen would indicate that there was at least a little hope.
Let's pray:
Father, help me to overcome complacency through the power of the Holy Spirit. May my life be a testimony to Your greatness and power. Help me to know the Truth more and more each day and allow the Truth to set me free--free from pretense, free from ego, free from the flesh, free from "me". Amen
Have a blessed day,
The Coffeehouse Bible Ministry
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