Thursday, 09 October 2008

• Recently, I read God Came Near (by Max Lucado) to a friend. The following passage stood out to me....Lucado had just finished telling a story of how his two year old daughter had nearly drowned in a pool causing him to remember the important things of life:

  It was a divine slap, a gracious knock on the head, a severe mercy. Because of it I came face to face with one of the underground’s slyest agents–the agent of familiarity.

  His commission from the black throne room is clear and fatal: "Take nothing from your victim; cause him only to take everything for granted."

  He’d been on my trail for years and I never knew it. But I know it now. I’ve come to recognize his tactics and detect his presence. And I’m doing my best to keep him out. His aim is deadly. His goal is nothing less than to take what is most precious to us and make it appear most common.

  To say that this agent of familiarity breeds contempt is to let him off easy. Contempt is just one of his offspring. He also sires broken hearts, wasted hours, and an insatiable desire for more. He’s an expert in robbing the sparkle and replacing it with the drab. He invented the yawn and put the hum in humdrum. And his strategy is deceptive.

  He won’t steal your salvation; he’ll just make you forget what it was like to be lost. You’ll grow accustomed to prayer and thereby not pray. Worship will become common place and study optional. With the passing of time he’ll infiltrate your heart with boredom and cover the cross with dust so you’ll be "safely" out of reach of change. Score one for the agent of familiarity.

  Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about being ready for the Lord’s return and about telling others the Good News...thoughts have been tumbling through my mind....my heart is convicted, yet I find myself bound by shyness and fear – or at least uncertain as to how to go about speaking the Good News to people. I pass by many college students in my day to day life. How many of them are going to an eternity of fire unless they hear/accept the salvation available through Jesus’ death and resurrection? If we really believe there is a heaven and a hell, why aren’t we more passionate about spreading the News?

  The "agent of familiarity" has crept into our lives. The Good News has become too common. And truly "His aim is deadly."

  I am reminded of a song:

  "The Lord is coming, are you ready?                                                                                                               The Lord is coming, are you ready?                                                                                                             Would your heart be right if He came tonight?                                                                                                      The Lord is coming, are you ready?"

   

  What are we doing to help people be ready? Let us pray for each other–that we may awaken and heed the call of God on our lives. Let us pray for revival. Let us commit to obeying Him no matter what He asks of us.

  I stand convicted. "Lord, I’m sorry!"

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