A Refreshing Fast

It's been a week since I started my fast , but this time , it is a different kind of a fast . All week , the television has been turned off  and instead , I spent time listening to sermons , filling my time with the Word of God . 

I really thought I would have a hard time with this type of 
fast . I like having the television on  and most of the time , I'm not even watching nor listening to what is on . My whole point was to lower the amount and spend more time filling my spiritual side . By exceeding , I found that I didn't need to have it on . I found that the shows I love to watch are really on the weekend . So why was I wasting my time , my electricity  and my mind ? 

I feel there comes a time where we become complacent with things that affect our life . We close our eyes and ears to things around us , becoming numb and by allowing things to enter that we would have never done before . It's okay to do so , right ? I mean our faith is strong , right ? 

The thing is , we never feel we are complacent in our ways or views . So here are five signs that you might be more complacent than you think .

1.       Far Too Easily Satisfied.

When you are complacent, you are easily satisfied with incremental growth and minor achievements.  Such things can be heralded as “big wins” and seen as an affirmation of effectiveness, but it rings hollow when they are marginal at best.  If your big win of the year was new carpet in the vestibule, then your big win was,

…carpet.

Sorry, but that’s not much of a kingdom hill.

2.       Quick to Make Excuses.

When you are complacent, you are quick to offer all kinds of reasons about why you are not growing, why you cannot do anything new, why “that” wouldn’t work, why…you get the point.  Challenges are allowed to become obstacles, obstacles are allowed to become barriers, and barriers are allowed to become excuses.

It is all too easy to hide out behind such excuses as a reason for your acceptance of the status quo.

3.       Never Enough Time.

When you are complacent, there is the veneer of activity and busyness, but it is seldom strategic.  Yet the facade of meaningful activity becomes the means by which to excuse what could, and should, be done.

More often than not, your forty or more hours per week are spent doing what you enjoy, and what gives you the most strokes, but not necessarily what advances the church most strategically.  But, since time is being filled, it is easy to dismiss using it in other ways.  You tell yourself there simply isn’t enough of it.  Then you keep spending it the way you always have, and being where you’ve always been. 

Which, if you are complacent, is perfectly fine.

4.       No Longer Teachable.

When you are complacent, you resist being “pushed” or “challenged.”  In fact, you denounce such pushes or challenges, usually in the name of some superior sounding reason tied to trivial theology or denominational distinctive.

Even worse is when you reject new ideas based on your supposed “experience” or “knowledge” as a seasoned leader.

This describes me more than I realized , with all my extra activities , sometimes I feel I'm not producing my very best because of the time restraints or just too many irons in the fire . Number three is definitely me . 

I don't ever want to become complacent in what I do or believe . Life seems to be a constant lesson to be learned , with degrees to be attained throughout our life . I wonder if we continue on in Heaven ? Or is that the Master Degree of all degrees ? I'd like to definitely believe that !

Have a Blessed day everyone .