“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’” Zephaniah 1:12
The danger for those with complacent hearts is that they are neither stirred by what God is doing, nor affected by what he promises to do. At best, a complacent heart leads to a wasted life, and at worst, to a tragedy of eternal proportions.
Have you ever wondered why the Scriptures command us to live with hearts full of thanksgiving? When the heart is not saturated in thanksgiving, it immediately begins to dry out, harden, and fail.
This is why God convicts us and draws us by his grace toward a restoring, life-giving position of repentance. Living lives of repentance by God’s grace reconciles us to God, and his faithful outpouring of patience and grace on the ones he is sanctifying.
These great gifts of love and friendship from the Father soak our dry and hardened hearts, restoring them to life and making them beat again in a joyful rhythm of thanksgiving to God.
The life of repentance always leads to a life of mad celebration of the grace and mercy of our great God. Doesn’t that sound great? It’s the only thing we should ever choose, and yet, in spite of the wounds that rebellion and perversion inflict, the complacent heart refuses to flinch or bleed.
We must we stop fighting God’s holy conviction and allow the truth of God’s Word to wound us. Only then will our hearts respond, soaking up his love, drinking in his forgiveness, reviving us to life, and quickening our lives to the thrill and wonder of humble worship of our God and Savior.
Alex Ghioni is the lead pastor of Mars Hill Sammamish.
