COMPLACENCY – DEVOTIONAL
Howdy Friends! It had been a rainy morning. “Just the kind of morning made to be sittin’ in the barn listenin’ to rain dance on the roof.” Grandpop told the cat purring asleep on his lap.
“Yeah, days like this’ll settle one down to a whole lot of doin’ nuthin.’ Of course a day every now and then of doin’ nuthin’ ain’t all that bad.” He got up and walked to the mare in the first box stall, carrying the kitty with him. “It’s if a fella strings a whole chain of them do nuthin’ days together that gets troublesome.” He scratched the mare’s neck.
Grandpop deposited the kitty on a straw bale, then brought Blue into the barn isle, and began combing his tale. “Yer still a grand lookin’ ol boy, ain’t ya Blue.” Grandpop combed and combed Blue’s long thick tail. “I think I’ll make this a full day of nuthin’.” He said, as if he expected the tall gelding to answer. “Yup, I think today I’ll latch onto a man sized batch of complacency.”
He stopped combing long enough to sample some of the coffee, he’d just about forgotten about. “Wonder why nobody ever figured out how to make coffee stay hot.” He walked over and leaned on Blue. “Reminds me of a story… Wanna hear it?”
“Okay, seems a long time ago this ol’ boy showed up in the bunk house with a new thing he called a thermos. Most the boys were sittin’ ‘round a table in front of the fireplace playin’ cards. Well, one fella asks, ‘what’s a thermos?’ … ‘Ya see, it keeps hot things hot, and cold things cold.’ he told ‘em.”
“Then another fella asked him, ‘whatcha ya got in that there thermos right now?’ The ol’ boy told ‘em, proud as punch, ‘I got hot coffee and scoop of ice cream in there!’”
Grandpop gave Blue a chuckle. “I never did hear how that worked out.”
Grandpop finished the cold coffee, started to brush Blue, humming as he brushed. “I knew a fella a while back, who was so bitten by that complacency bug, why he just withered up and blew away.”
He could see Blue doubted his story, so Grandpop elaborated. “Yup, he started out strong, worked hard, built a nice little spread. Why as I recall he got up to running 50 cows, and a nice string of horses.” Grandpop sighed. “Then little by little he started getting’ comfortable. Sort of content with what he had. Figured he didn’t need to focus on improvin’ anymore.”
“That poor fella got to where he didn’t mend fence, or run off wolves. I always figured it was because he was sick. But it wasn’t that. He just figured he’d done enough, I guess. Settled into years of doin’ nuthin’ days. Or at least not much doin’. After a bit most his herd was gone, sick or not calvin’. He sold most his horses for cash.”
Grandpop leaned on Blue. “Poor fella, just disappeared. I thought about him a few times over the years. Maybe there’s a lesson comin’ from that ol’ boy. Maybe the Good Lord wants us ta keep at it. Don’t get hung up in a string of do nuthin’ days. Stay away from that complacency sickness. Maybe He wants us to keep on keepin’ on. With a purpose.”
He put Blue away, got his coffee cup, caught the kitty and headed for the house.
~ Gitty Up, Dutch.
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Bible Verse – Proverbs 24:30-34 – “I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.”
Bible Verse – Luke 12:19-20 – “And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’”
Bible Verse – Proverbs 19:15 – “Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.”
Bible Verse – Proverbs 10:4 – “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
Bible Verse – Ecclesiastes 11:4 – “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”
Bible Verse – Jeremiah 48:10 – “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!”
Bible Verse – Philippians 3:14 – “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Bible Verse – 2 Peter 1:5-8 – “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Bible Verse – Romans 12:11 – “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
Bible Verse – Proverbs 12:24 – “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.”
Bible Verse – Revelation 3:17 – “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.”
Bible Verse – James 4:17 – “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
