Amos 3:11-15: a reflection

11Therefore the Lord GOD says: “An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.” 12The LORD says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.” 13“Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord GOD, the God of Armies. 14“For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground. 15I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end,” says the LORD.

Amos warns those who live in luxurious ease, lounging on their couches and beds of ivory, that their comfort has made them complacent and heedless, and will not save them in the day of reckoning. He speaks of those who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch and on the silken cushions of a bed, at ease in their luxury; and warns that their winter houses and summer houses, their houses of ivory and great houses, will come to an end. Their comfortable ease had bred a complacency that ignored God and the coming reckoning; they were lulled by luxury into heedlessness. This is a caution about how comfort and ease can breed complacency, lulling us into ignoring God. Comfortable ease can breed complacency and heedlessness. Luxury lulls us into ignoring God and the reckoning. Comfort can make us complacent and heedless. Ease breeds a complacency that forgets God.

Notice the danger Amos names: not luxury in itself so much as the complacency and heedlessness it bred. Those he addresses were at ease, lounging on their couches and silken cushions, surrounded by their ivory houses and great houses. And this comfortable ease had made them complacent, heedless of God, forgetful of the reckoning that was coming, lulled into a false security by their luxury. This is a real danger for us. Comfort and ease are not evil in themselves; but they can lull us into complacency, into a heedless forgetfulness of God, a false sense of security that ignores our deeper need and the reckoning we must all face. When we are comfortable, at ease, surrounded by our possessions, we can grow spiritually drowsy, complacent, forgetting God, presuming our comfort will last. But comfort is no security against the deeper realities; it can be a snare that lulls us to sleep. We do well to guard against the complacency that comfort breeds, staying awake to God even in our ease. Comfort can lull us into spiritual complacency and drowsiness. Do not let ease breed a heedless forgetfulness of God. Guard against the complacency that comfort can breed. Stay awake to God even in comfort and ease.

That is worth taking to heart, for comfort and ease can breed a complacency that lulls us into ignoring God, as those at ease on their couches were heedless of the coming reckoning. We can grow comfortable and at ease, surrounded by our possessions, and be lulled into spiritual complacency, forgetting God and presuming our comfort will last; but Amos warned those lounging in luxury that their comfort had made them heedless and would not save them. Comfort can be a snare. Guard against the complacency that comfort breeds; stay awake to God even in your ease, not lulled into forgetting him. Guard against the complacency that comfort and ease can breed, staying awake to God even in your comfort rather than being lulled into a heedless forgetfulness of him, as Amos warned those who sat at ease in Samaria on their couches and silken cushions, surrounded by their ivory houses, that their comfortable luxury had made them complacent and would not save them in the day of reckoning; for comfort and ease are not evil in themselves, but they can lull us into complacency, into a heedless forgetfulness of God and a false sense of security that ignores our deeper need and the reckoning we must face, so that when we are comfortable and surrounded by our possessions we can grow spiritually drowsy and presume our comfort will last, but comfort is no security against the deeper realities and can be a snare that lulls us to sleep, and we do well to guard against the complacency it breeds and stay awake to God even in our ease.

Lord, Amos warns those who live in luxurious ease, lounging on their couches and beds of ivory, that their comfort has made them complacent and heedless, and will not save them in the day of reckoning. He speaks of those who sit at ease in their luxury; and warns that their houses of ivory and great houses will come to an end. Their comfortable ease had bred a complacency that ignored you and the coming reckoning; they were lulled by luxury into heedlessness. This is a caution about how comfort and ease can breed complacency, lulling me into ignoring you. Show me the danger Amos names: not luxury in itself so much as the complacency and heedlessness it bred. Those he addresses were at ease, lounging on their couches, surrounded by their great houses. And this comfortable ease had made them complacent, heedless of you, forgetful of the reckoning that was coming. This is a real danger for me. Comfort and ease are not evil in themselves; but they can lull me into complacency, into a heedless forgetfulness of you, a false sense of security. When I am comfortable, at ease, surrounded by my possessions, I can grow spiritually drowsy, forgetting you, presuming my comfort will last. But comfort is no security against the deeper realities; it can be a snare that lulls me to sleep. Take that to my heart, for comfort and ease can breed a complacency that lulls me into ignoring you. Keep me from letting ease breed a heedless forgetfulness of you; help me guard against the complacency that comfort breeds, Lord, and stay awake to you even in my comfort and ease, not lulled into forgetting you or presuming my comfort will last.