June 30, 2024
"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves"
- Romans 12:10 (NIV)
The popular idiom “familiarity breeds contempt” explains that if you know a person or situation very well, you can easily lose respect for the person and become careless in that situation. The Bible is full of examples of people who became too familiar with situations they were involved in and came out the same (or worse) at the end of their involvement.
Perhaps the most popular example of this is the story in Mark 6:1-6 where Jesus went to His home country but could do no great work except laying hands and healing a few sick people (verse 5). Another example is Gehazi, Elisha’s assistant in 2nd Kings 5:20-27 who became familiar with the office of the prophet and thought he could administer the office on behalf of the prophet.
Don’t fall for the familiarity trap and lose out on being able to be blessed by the channels and agents God has placed in your life for your profit.
This disregard for the people, things or situations we have come to know over time, is a strategy the enemy continues to deploy even to this day, causing believers to miss out on their blessings, hindering the manifestation of God’s promises in their lives and thus delaying their miracles. We must develop the awareness to recognize this strategy when it is at work and bring its activity to an immediate stop.
This strategy is most common in the church. It is all too easy to become familiar with the motions of the service and as such are neither moved by the praise, nor the worship and in some instances the Word from the preacher. We know the singer, we know the pastor, and we know the leader of the units in which we serve. We grew up with them, we went to the same school with them, we are their neighbours, and our children go to the same school as their children. We work our regular jobs with them, we see them at the grocery store, and we know what gym they go to.
These are not bad engagements in themselves. In fact, they are opportunities God in His infinite wisdom has given us to be close to the people in these positions for our profit. The Bible records in Hebrews 13:17 “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you”.
The word for us is that within these engagements, let them be such that they are without grief for the people that hold these positions or the things of God. The best way to do this is by honouring these people through obedience, submission and reverence regardless of what situation they are in.
Don’t fall for the familiarity trap and lose out on being able to be blessed by the channels and agents God has placed in your life for your profit.
Song of Worship
Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
Prayer - Dear Lord, thank You for the people You have appointed into positions over me. Thank You for the things of God in my life. Grant me the grace to be obedient and submissive to them, to treat the things of God with reverence at all times, lest I fall into the trap of familiarity and unknowingly delay my blessings in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible in 1 year: Job 17-19