The word “familiar” has been playing in my head as I have realized that when people banter or act in a way that we’re familiar with, we easily get comfortable and can get swept down a path that is different than the one that we’ve been purposefully trying to choose today. This is why it can be so difficult to change, break a habit, stop an addiction, change our beliefs, or see something with a different mindset.
If something or someone is familiar to us, we let our guard down and will easily accept with little resistance this idea, behavior, or person. In order to change course in our life with a new thought pattern or deeper understanding, it requires diligence, dedication, and hard work. Whether we’re trying to changing a lifestyle in order to have a healthier body, a healthier mind, healthier relationships, or healthier beliefs, familiarity threatens to draw us back into our earlier default settings. When familiarity sweeps in, our progress toward being a changed person can quickly get derailed, and setbacks can discourage us from continuing the drive to change.
FAMILIARITY draws us like a powerful magnet, and if we aren’t aware, we may willingly give away our claim to being an individual thinker, a person with a growth mindset, or someone who is no longer a victim to whatever had trapped us.
By nature, I am a questioner, but I strongly believe that anyone who isn’t DELIBERATE with their time, their thoughts, and their awareness of their actions will be consumed by the power of inertia. They will be caught in the current of familiarity, the wave of “what everyone else is doing and saying,” and they will be swept away by GROUP THINK.
It is so important that we know not only what we believe and why, but also that we don’t fall into the trap of familiar complacency and backsliding into old thought patterns and toxic close-mindedness. Familiarity threatens to eradicate vigilance, and according to an internet search about vigilance, “In a biblical context, ‘vigilant’ means to be keenly watchful and alert, especially to spiritual dangers like temptation, false teachings, and the devil’s schemes. It also implies a state of constant readiness and attentiveness to God’s will, a steadfast faith, and preparedness for Christ’s return. This spiritual wakefulness is vital for resisting spiritual threats and maintaining a strong connection with God.”
Wow. The concept that familiarity threatens to eradicate vigilance is directly from Holy Spirit, and I thank him for teaching me even as I write.
For those who enjoy going deeper still to process things with Holy Spirit, I invite you to think about the word FAMILIAR and ask God to show you the traps which the Enemy might be trying to hold you back from going deeper in your faith.
Take a look at this: (defined by Oxford Languages) — Adjective: FAMILIAR — 1. well known from long or close association. *often encountered or experienced; common. *having a good knowledge of. 2. in close friendship; intimate. *informal to an inappropriate degree. — Noun: FAMILIAR — 1. a demon supposedly attending and obeying a witch, often said to assume the form of an animal. 2. a close friend or associate. 3. (in the Roman Catholic Church) a person rendering certain services in a pope’s or bishop’s household.
Leviticus 19:31 NKJV – ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.’
Deuteronomy 18:9 NKJV – “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.”
What new “land” is God leading you to walk into? Who are you allowing to lead your beliefs and behaviors? Where is Holy Spirit highlighting that you need to be more vigilant? What familiar spirits need to be commanded to leave in order for you to walk in freedom in Christ?