WHEN DID THAT HOUSE GET THERE?

Do you ever drive down a road you travel a lot and say, “When did that house get there?” Then you realize it is probably 50 years old. Why hadn’t you seen the house last week? Or the week before that? Or yesterday?

The answer: Familiarity. As you drove down that road, time after time after time, the house became familiar and blended in with everything around it. You also quit noticing the pond that sparkles when the sun hits it. And the beautiful garden with tall corn and red peppers. And you drive right by that house because you are used to seeing it.

Until that day when all of a sudden, “When did that house get there?” Something just a bit different caught your eye. Maybe the sun was shining on the windows or maybe there was a car pulling out of the drive. For whatever reason, you saw it.

Familiarity can be good. It makes us feel safe. It sets the norm. Familiarity means we know what to expect.

But familiarity can be bad. We can stay where it is safe and never grow. The norm can become boring. And we take the expected for granted.

Familiarity can be dangerous. The road becomes so familiar that we quit paying attention and could have a wreck. A safe, familiar life can mean missed opportunities. Familiarity with our family/friends/home/church -- with our God -- can mean we take them for granted. We become so familiar with family/friends/home/church -- with God --

SCRIPTURE: HEBREWS 2:1

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

AND NOW

Do not drift away. Yes, this verse says to pay careful attention to what we have heard but it does apply to familiar things in our lives. We need to pay careful attention to our family/friends/home/church -- to our God -- so they do not become so familiar that they blend in with everything around us. If that happens, one day we will say, “Where did they go? I don’t remember when I quit seeing them.”

PLEASE PRAY

Open your heart. Talk to God.