There’s an enemy lurking about seeking to destroy the true disciples of Yeshua the Messiah.  It is sneaky and can overtake any follower of Yeshua unawares. Who and what is this insidious prowler seeking to steal from us our passion for Yeshua and maybe even our salvation? This vicious enemy is weariness, complacency, and apathy and is perhaps our greatest spiritual foe. 

Make no mistake. This ravenously rabid foe can weaken and even destroy the most stalwart individual and even take down a whole nation. The Bible from one end to the other is full of such examples. Weariness and complacency can weaken even the staunchest Christian, so that they  become sitting targets and victims of the world, flesh and the devil. Be warned! This evil enemy has taken out many people and you are in its cross hairs! Being aware of this is the first step in overcoming this vicious foe.

Weariness and spiritual lukewarmness is a slow and subtle process of enemy attrition, a slippery slope involving spiritual declension resulting in the enemy’s victory. Even Christians who are active in spiritual works and ministry, can fall prey to this enemy. This is because religious activity devoid of heart, love, passion and the Spirit of Elohim can still leave us empty and unfulfilled—like a hollow spiritual shell. Europe and America, for example,  are full of beautiful old churches and cathedrals and Christian denominations that are cold, empty and devoid of spiritual life. This is because the people that once filled these churches long ago lost their passion for Jesus Christ and the Bible. These empty churches are now silent monuments testifying to the spirit of weariness and lukewarmness and of people who have fallen victim to the subtle and surreptitious spirit of lukewarmness.

Let me give an example of what I mean by asking you, the reader, a simple question. Any one of us may have fallen into the snares of weariness, apathy and complacency without even knowing it. How do we know this? If the answer to the following question is yes, then you may be a victim who needs to take a serious look at the state of your spiritual life. The question is this: How would your life change TODAY if you knew Yeshua were coming back tomorrow? If you are not doing what you know that you should be doing, then your are likely a victim of complacency and lukewarmness more than you think. This should be a wake up call to get ready, for Yeshua could return at any moment. Beyond that, none of us knows when our last breath or heart will be, and our next waking moment will be in the presence of Yeshua our King, who will judge and reward each of us according to our works contrary to what many churches have erroneously and sadly taught their hapless members (Rev 20:12; 2:23; 19:8; Matt 5:19; 16:27; Rom 2:6; 2 Cor 5:10; 1 Pet 1:17; Eph 6:18). 

Let me give you another illustration to punctuate my point. Most of us exert great effort to prepare our homes when we know that company is coming to visit us. We clean the house, tidy up the clutter, buy special food, prepare the guest accommodations, and mow the grass. Why don’t we attach the same priority of effort to our spiritual homes with regard to Yeshua coming back to this earth for his people? He could come at anytime. Let me explain. First, we don’t know when Yeshua is coming back. Second, again, none of us knows when we are going to die. Either way, you could be standing face-to-face with Yeshua in an instant!

Here is another hopefully thought provoking question. Why do we often put a higher priority on our physical well-being and appearance than on are spiritual well-being and on how we appear to Yeshua our Messiah and soon-coming Bridegroom? Many of us spend hours in the bathroom focusing on embellishing our appearance, or hours in the gym working out keeping ourselves fit physically. Yet when it comes to our spiritual appearance and fitness, we might spend fifteen minutes a day if that! This is because most of us are spiritually lukewarm to one degree or another. This is largely because many of us—especially in the West— live in a rich, soft, affluent, materialistic, self-absorbed, comfort-driven and pleasure-seeking society. We live in a world full of distractions—often alluring ones—and things that are constantly demanding our attention. Moreover, we’ve never had to live without, suffered physical lack or been persecuted for our beliefs. Because we have been conditioned to this status quo of affluent abundance for so long, we tend to think that the status quo of our comfortable lives will never end. The problem is that a study of history and the Bible tell us that such periods of peace and prosperity are usually the exception and not the rule, and all such periods are usually short-lived. They come to an end and give way to regime changes often involving much suffering and privation.

Now let’s get back to the main question. Do we really live as if today may be our last day of life, and tomorrow would be our judgment day before King Yeshua, where we will have to answer for every idle word we have ever spoken, and will be judged for all that we’ve done or not done in service and obedience to him? Will Yeshua view us as a good steward of the time, talent and treasure he has given us or a foolish steward for wasting our time on stuff, in the long run, that has no spiritual value? These are serious questions that deserve, no require some deep and honest soul searching.

Here is another soul-searching question. Why do so many of us have so little passion for Yeshua, and so little sense of urgency about living for him knowing that we could meet him in person at any moment? It’s because apathy, complacency and weariness have overtaken us. None of us are immune to this spiritual disease, which has too often been the norm rather than the exception a among believers down through the ages.

In 1 Peter 3:1–14 we read,