amos 3-5

Today was the second set of readings from the book of Amos. In reading through chapters 3-5, we have gotten into the meat of the prophets message from God. Chapters 1-2 is God setting the stage for His judgment to all people for the sin they have done against Him. Chapters 3-5 begins to list and show the sin that the people of Israel (Northern Kingdom) have done against God. God then lays out for the people why they need to respond to His call for repentance and what that response must look like. I will be preaching this Sunday from the end of chapter 5 on the day of the Lord but if you need a refresher on what that day is, I discussed it a little on Tuesday Sept. 8 blog. I find Amos to be a very relevant and important book for the church to read through in this day and age of our lives. See, life for the people of Israel had gotten very comfortable and luxurious in the days of Amos. The kingdom was prospering, the economy was flourishing, the army was winning, and life was great. The rich were getting richer at the expense of the poor getting poorer. The people of Israel had turned to the god of money, comfort, power, affluence, and easy living. In turning to these gods the people then turned their back on their own countrymen and began to take advantage of others and become selfish and self-seeking in their lives. Yet, as chapter 5 will show us this Sunday, the people were still confident that God was on their side and was their God and was for and in favor of them. So Amos shows up on the scene with a different message from God that is a call for the people to wake up and realize that to love God and worship God must be uncomfortable and focused on the well-being of others. This is right where the church in America is today as a whole. The church has become comfortable, set in their own religion, focused on their own lives, and forgetting about others, including the poor and destitute, around them. The church in America today has become, a me centered, God exists to make my life good, approach to faith. The church needs to hear the words of Amos when he calls the people cows of Bashan and see the hand of God against His people for their idolatrous ways. I pray as we finish reading through Amos this week, that it will lead us as the church to once again put God at the center of our life and begin to notice and see the importance of others around us.