A Dangerous Disease

The downside of living in affluence is that we can lose sight of how much we need God. We typically have everything we need in this world and the rest is just a click away. Self-reliance is a disease that can disguise itself in very noble pursuits.

Self-sufficiency can change our relationship with God from one of reliance to convenience.

If our relationship with God becomes merely one of convenience, then He can become somewhat of a 911 number in our life. We aren’t living in daily dependence, we just call upon Him when we need something.

This is a tough one. We are taught in our culture that we need to learn to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Dependence is viewed as a sign of weakness. Yet, followers of Christ are called to live a life of dependence. This begs the question - can we do both? I believe that the answer is yes - but it isn’t always easy.

The church in Laodicea was rebuked in Revelation for their attitude of self-sufficiency:

Revelation 3:15-17 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,” and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked,

This is a sharp warning and one that we should pay attention to. The tragedy of self-sufficiency is that we place our trust in our own talents and temporal possessions. We forget the source of these blessings and that they could be gone in an instant. Are we in love with the gifts or the Giver?

God is the only daily reality that we can ultimately put our trust in. One of the ways to fight off this deadly disease is by putting Him first each day. This helps us develop a mindset of dependence like almost nothing else can. If we miss our daily time with Him, we should feel like we have missed something really important. If not, we could be drifting toward self-sufficiency.

This may sound like another devotional about quiet times. It’s really an encouragement for a life of dependency vs. a life of self-reliance. However, consistent quiet times build dependency like nothing else can.

Stay hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6