Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalm 42:1-2

Living things grow. From the moment our life begins as a microscopic organism until we breathe our last on this earth, we depend on development. Without it, we could not survive. Why should our spiritual lives be any different? The life of a Christian must be either growing or fading—maintenance levels are not an option. I love what Peter writes: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). The life to which God calls us isn’t a walk in the park.

Complacency is one of the most easily ignored pitfalls, and it is because of this that it is so dangerous. We think “I go to church. I read my Bible. I’m even heavily involved in ministry. I’m at a good spot in my faith.” But as the rich young ruler found, Christ wants all of us, not just enough to make us feel good about ourselves. Just like in any relationship, our closeness with the Lord is either increasing or decreasing. It cannot remain stagnant. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11-13, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” God called us for a purpose; as we become more like Him we build up the church of Christ.

I believe complacency stems from two root sins. The first of these is pride. We play the comparison game, pretending that, since we have a stronger faith than most people, we have no reason to seek excellence and holiness. The Lord is the only person we should ever be comparing ourselves to, and provided our view of Him is not distorted, we will never be anything but amazed by His goodness and humbled at our imperfections. The second reason we grow complacent is a lack of desire for God. My pastor said once, “You have as much of Jesus as you want.” That statement is hard to swallow, but it is undeniably true. God does not separate Himself from those who truly seek to know Him. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’” This verse has weighty implications—if we are not growing closer to God it is because we are not seeking Him.

When we take for granted the life God has called us to, we are cheapening Christ’s work on the cross. As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:11-12, “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Christ’s blood, and only that, can redeem us from our sin. I never want to suggest that with our own perseverance we can win favor with God or cancel out the effects of our sin. But if Christ is truly the Lord of our life, it should be our heart’s desire to become like Him. Complacency has no place in a real relationship with the King of heaven.

Constantly desiring sanctification doesn’t mean dejectedly dwelling on our own worthlessness. We are chosen, redeemed, forgiven, adopted, saved, and loved by the Creator of the universe—our identity is sealed and we have a Father from whom we can never be separated. This is what drives us to become more like Him. It’s not because we’re so caught up with how horrible we are (in fact, the less we think of ourselves at all, the better). The gratitude and amazement at the God whose love paid the price His justice required should instill in us a burning longing to grow in our relationship with Him. Romans 8:29 says, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” Are you wondering what God’s plan is for your life? First and foremost, He wants you to be like Christ.

No matter how long we live, we can never outlive our tendency to stray away from the narrow path into the pitfalls of complacency. But once we see Jesus, our faith will be made sight, our hope will be fulfilled, our longings will be satisfied. “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3). Until then, keep on seeking Christ. If you’re truly alive, then don’t stop growing.