"Beware of the danger of spiritual relaxation." (Oswald Chambers)
Reading a devotional piece earlier today, I ran across this brief but powerful admonition that caught me up short and compelled me to take notice.
Why? Because I found myself described here, in this idea of "spiritual relaxation" - and that discovery was too close for comfort. So I was left feeling a degree of conviction, which has often been for me a prodding of the Holy Spirit that something needs doing, or fixing, or at least some serious attention.
So I'm attending, and finding in this a troubling reality. "Spiritual Relaxation" can be synonymous with some less than desirable characteristics - things which most people would want to distance themselves from. But which some people find embedded in the traits that are almost default ways of living and responding to life and the world. A short, descriptive catalog of these traits might include: apathy, indifference, discontent, lethargy, resentment, malaise, frustration, self-centeredness, sluggishness, coldness, depression, anxiety, despondence, and more. The scary thing is that those who are too often relaxed spiritually - who have believed themselves spiritually right where they ought to be - are actually putting distance between themselves from God with every breath.
You see, unlike the relaxed ones, God is dynamic, vital, moving, engaged, involved, excited, creative, serving, filled with hope and promise and power. Spiritual relaxation and those who practice that pattern of living are daily, minute by minute, turning their backs on the very things that make for abundant spiritual living. And like dry leaves afloat on a rapidly moving current, they will eventually be washed away. And wonder why.
So I post this image today as a symbol and reminder of the darker side of spiritual relaxation - not a sofa or a bed of ease, but a fence, a barrier, an impediment to the kind of spiritual life and vitality God wants to give.
Somewhere in the Old Testament book of Amos, as pointed out once by Charles Schultz in his "Peanuts" comic strip, I recall the wisdom of the prophet, who said to all with ears to hear:
"Woe unto those who are at ease in Zion!" So I guess we've gotta pay attention, get up and go out to where Jesus is, to keep our spiritual edge sharp.
