Complacency

complacencyLiving in the Spirit
September 8, 2015

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 1:20-33

Because they hated knowledge
   and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
  would have none of my counsel,
   and despised all my reproof,
  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
   and be sated with their own devices.
For waywardness kills the simple,
   and the complacency of fools destroys them;
   but those who listen to me will be secure   and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.’ –Proverbs 1:29-33

The phrases above translated “complacency of fools,” while accurate, may be nicer in English for in Hebrew it means stupid fellow, dullard, fool.* In English it means

1 a:  the quality or state of being satisfied:  a calm sense of well-being and security especially satisfaction or self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies

b:  self-satisfaction, vanity**

Of course, a calm sense of wellbeing and security is exactly what we long for in our relationship with God and according to verse 33 it is exactly what God wishes for us. Our poet today is trying to point out, I believe, the difference between living out our lives with little or no concern about anything but ourselves and our own peace of mind without regard to our environment and particularly to the lives of our fellow travelers in this world today. Nero fiddled while Rome burned. God calls us to put out destructive fires of indifference while being the light of the world.

Prayer: Holy One, God of today and God of tomorrow, make real for us the consequences of our own actions and order our lives to be ever vigilant to your will and your way for there is a difference in facing danger in your name and ignoring it in selfish indulgences. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/hebrew/3684.htm

**http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/complacency

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.