Category Archives: Religion

Seek Me and Live

Posted on August 12, 2009 | Leave a comment


More from the book of Amos. Yahweh, speaking through the prophet, commands Israel to “Seek me and live.” Israel was guilty of idolatry and social injustice. They had been seeking their own comforts-not apart from religion-but apart from the Lord. They had actually turned religion into mere tradition-religion without heart. Yahweh was calling them to repentance-and he made it clear that he would be actively involved to thwart their efforts to seek their own comfort at the expense of the needs of the less fortunate. In Amos 5:1-15 three times the command is made to “seek.” Twice the people are commanded to seek the Lord and once to seek good. The end result is the Lord himself-life-righteousness and justice.

As I studied this passage this morning the command to “seek” caught my attention. A little word study revealed that this term can mean to search out, to read or study, to inquire, to consult, to ponder, to investigate, or to beat a path to. These are rich notions of what it would mean to seek the Lord. The New Bible Commentary makes note of the fact that the call to seek Yahweh is a call to relationship and intimacy-to closeness to the God of the universe. That is an unimaginable privilege. Yet how easy it was for the Israelites to substitute intimacy with Yahweh for tradition and idolatry. Could it be any less true for us?

There is a regular seeking that must take place in the life of a believer. We are seeking creatures by nature-we will either seek Yahweh and that which is good or we will seek our own comforts and end up with that which is evil and does not lead to life. To seek our own end actually leads to injustice-subverting justice with a bribe or dismissing the seemingly unimportant and less fortunate of the world. But to seek the Lord leads to life, righteousness, justice-and compassion for the less fortunate.

Note too in v.14-15 that the seeking may precede the loving-in other words our will may have to precede our emotion. To seek good will lead to loving good-we cannot afford to wait on the emotion to act-the act will lead to the emotion.

May you and I “beat a path” to the God of the universe today-that we may live and show compassion to all whom He created.

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Amos 4:4–13 Religion Without Repentance

Posted on July 2, 2009 | Leave a comment


Read these thoughts below from The New Bible Commentary on Amos 4–I have seen the end result of mere religion in Italy–where are we headed in the U.S.?

Amos now comes to the heart of the matter. In the long run the serious thing is not their crimes (3:9–10), rebellions (3:14) or offense to God’s holiness (4:2) but that, given the chance to repent they did not do so. The heart of the passage (6–11) teaches that in all the varied circumstances of life the Lord is the cause and that his purpose in every act of affliction is to bring his people right back to himself. The initial, ironical command Go (4), introducing an exposure of a religion that failed (4–5), is balanced by a final call to be ready to meet the Lord (a religion that will not fail) in vs 12–13. In between these calls there are seven acts of God aimed at bringing his people back to himself (6–11). In Israel’s case the specific aim of the divine acts was repentance, but the principle is that in every experience of life the Lord is directly at work to bring us close to himself.

Carson, D. A.: New Bible Commentary : 21st Century Edition. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA : Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, S. Am 4:4

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The Privileged People of God

Posted on June 29, 2009 | 1 Comment

I am reading Amos in my devotional time. He is a poetic and powerful prophet. And much of what he says to Israel could easily apply to our generation today. Both the nations around Israel and Israel herself were guilty of two primary sins–social injustice and idolatry. These were symptom sins–the root was that the people of God had rejected the leading of God. They refused to to follow the examples of holiness provided by the Nazirites and they refused to listen to the voice of the prophets who warned them of the consequences of their sin. Thus–their hearts were led astray.

We look around us as American Christians and often believe that we are better than the “heathen”nations around us. How could Iran do such things? What is wrong with North Korea? Don’t the people of the Sudan get it? Deep down I think we have bought into the humanistic notion that we are more “cultured” than they–and somehow culture has allowed us to rise above it all. Yet we have Birmingham in 1963, Rodney King, or Abu Ghraib. In other words–becoming more cultured does not seem to cure a heart issue. Only Christ can heal the sick heart of man. We are no better that the other nations to the extent we are led astray by our own wandering hearts.

Israel was a privileged nation of people–one of the strong themes of the Old Testament is liberation, redemption, possession and settlement. These words represent God’s loving actions towards His people. He liberated them from Egyptian oppression, bought them out of slavery, called them His own and provided a new land. Under the New Covenant we are the recipients of the same loving kindness of God–we have been liberated, redeemed, marked out as children of God and given a beautiful inheritance. But Amos warns that with privilege comes great responsibility. There is social injustice and idolatry among us–in my heart. I need the grace of the gospel today for my wandering heart. Read what one commentary says about Amos 2:6-3:2. May we take heed too!

“Privilege is wonderful but it is not a shelter; it is a responsibility and a treasure for which we shall have to give account.”

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Posted in Culture, Religion, Society, Spiritual Life

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