Amos 4:12
In 2012, Jan and I spent a few days in Prague with our
friends Joe and Barb, and we were told by the tour guide that 60 % of the
people of Prague do not believe in God, in fact, they do not believe there is a
God. What a contrast to the people of
Amos’ day, if you had taken a survey of the Jewish people, and the question
was: Is there a God? I would be surprised
if you did not get 99.8% of the Jewish people saying yes and His name is Yahweh,
but the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 14:1, that some who he refers to as fools
will say, “There
is no God.”
What can you and I and the Church, learn from these
religious people who believed there was a God, but totally ignored His
commandments and statues? And now, let’s
move from Prague, to your country, your area, your town, your church, your
family, and finally to the person you see each morning in the mirror. You believe He is God; do you obey His
commandments? Maybe, we identify more
closely with the Jewish people of Amos’ day than we believe. One of the most humble, kind, and meek men
I’ve known is T.W. Hunt, a man of prayer, a mighty man in the kingdom of God,
and yet, he has told me on many occasions, Bob, “I’m a wicked man.” Now I must confess that each time he said
that to me it troubled me; for if T.W. is wicked, then what am I?
It was a great day when I ran across this quote, “There are only
two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who
think they are righteous.” Blaise Pascal
Amos
leaves no doubt that the Jewish people were a religious people who were so
consumed by self, they were living independent of God’s authority and yet if
you ask, they would fall under “the sinners who think they are righteous.” That is why God sent His prophet Amos, but
they were only irritated by his words, so it came to this statement in verse
12. “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will
do this to you, prepare to meet your
God, O Israel!”
The
question must be ask of us, for we are not a people of Psalm 14:1, who believe
there is no God, no we are Christians, we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
have put our hope in the redeeming blood that has covered our sin. And yet, we, like these religious Jews have
put self on the throne of our life, and many, to our shame, are living as if
Jesus does not tell the truth. Many who
are religious would answer the question if ask, is there a God, and what is His
name: they would answer; God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy
Spirit.
But
that answer will buy you no more in judgment than it did the Jews of Amos’ day,
for it is obedience that is God’s requirement to be a follower of Christ, it is
death to self, and it’s demands. I’m
learning that only being willing to be willing to the authority of the Spirit
of God will overcome the desires of my flesh.
For many today, this may be your day of God saying, “Therefore thus I will do to you, Your name; because I will do
this to you, prepare to meet your God,
O Your name or mine!” Emphasis added
From
the Back Porch,
Bob
Rice
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