by Kent E. Heaton Sr.
as originally published in the November 7, 1999 edition of The
Trenton Bulletin
The irony of life is that while we struggle with all of our
might to have a better life, it is the better life that so often makes our
lives worse. Robert Burton (1621) said: "If adversity hath killed his
thousands, prosperity hath killed ten thousands." History is replete
with examples of societies that fought long and hard to gain a sense of
prosperity and then when finding that prosperity sunk to the depths of
degradation in not knowing what to do with newly gained prosperity.
The strength of the United States is found more in history than the
newspapers of today. In our struggle to find a level of prosperity and
comfort, we were united and strong. In gaining a large portion of that
prosperity, we have become sluggish and divided. The impact of these social
ills has crept into the body of Christ.
The church in a prosperous world is becoming like the world around it. We
are not persecuted nor is there great conflict against the foundation of
the church. The real battle is found in being cursed with so many blessings
and taking for granted all that we have. Today we have greater ease of
travel, higher levels of comfort, more prosperity to do more with and more
access to knowledge than ever before. Yet we travel less to refresh
ourselves with God's word, find ourselves more willing to sit in a pouring
rain to watch a ball-game than at the meeting house with saints, give less
to the Lord and know even less about His will.
God warned the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 8 about forgetting Him
when they enter the land of Canaan with all its prosperity. Time and time
again (Deuteronomy 6:10-12; 11:16-21) he warned them about becoming to
comfortable and then they forget God. This is what they finally did - grew
prosperous and forgot God. (Amos 6:10-12; Hosea 4:6-10)
The church today struggles to maintain the present level of interest in
spiritual things. The Bible is more readily available in more forms than
ever before in the history of man - yet fewer children of God know much
about its content. Life is based upon comfort in travel, comfort in
sitting, ease of time and availability of opportunities. Why then do we
suffer so greatly to have Christians attend services on Sunday night,
Wednesday night, gospel meetings or home Bible studies? We are too busy for
God and the church is not our main purpose in life any longer.
Blessings turned to blight, blessings turned to a curse. Maybe it would be
a better thing for God to take the church away from us and give it to a
people who are more willing to suffer and die for the cause of Christ than
those of us who are living in the wealth of blessings and doing so little
for Him who died on the cross.