PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Amos 7-8
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” (Amos 8:12)
I believe in God, and I believe in goodness; we were made for both.
But what happens when we turn away from God and goodness?
If we close our ears to their call, we are doomed to the sound of despair.
If there is no God, and no goodness, then despair is all that remains.
There are no answers to our questions, no message of hope to rally our spirits.
Amos describes people staggering, desperately looking for the God they ignored.
Longing for a word of hope, the very word they refused to listen to before.
They do not find the word of the Lord because they forget what it sounds like.
Thankfully, Jesus still speaks hope… if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Jesus embodies God’s love for the poor and needy (8:4), and calls us to follow him.
People like Amaziah might try to silence Jesus (7:12f), but Jesus keeps calling.
As long as we ignore his gracious call, we will stagger through life without hope.
There is a God, and God is good; Jesus is still calling us to seek and find!
PRAYER
Lord, when I search for your message in scripture, I do hear it. Be merciful and penetrate the blindness and deafness of those who cannot or will not hear, that they may see and hear it too.
A plumb line and a basket of ripe fruit – the measure is full and time has come! The poor have been neglected and people are cheating everywhere – punishment/devastation is on the way – ant the king and his people won’t hear of it. The messenger or rather the many messengers have been ignored. God will wait no longer. God is patient – but the plumb line is there – there is a measure of rightness that we will be judged against – thank you Lord for sending Jesus – whose rightness makes us measure up. Again the fruit is ripe – the time is coming when Jesus will return again – help me Lord to be a faithful messenger of your grace – to convey the message that we can measure up to the plumbline of God’s rightness!
Th people have gone their own way doing what is right in their own eyes, forgetting the ways of the Lord. They had become gods unto themselves no longer able to hear the word of the Lord. His Word must be among us at all times, to guide us in our daily lives. Without our Guide we become lost sheep lead to the slaughter by our own doings. Throughout this day my I have open ears and open eyes to see Lord God leading me and guiding me in the Way.
1 Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And His righteousness;
And all these things shall be added unto you.
Hallelu, Hallelujah!
2 Ask, and it shall be given unto you;
Seek, and you shall find.
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Hallelu, Hallelujah!
3 Man shall not live by bread alone,
But by every word
That proceeds out from the mouth of God.
Hallelu, Hallelujah!