May the mumbling commence!
In the global context, we live
opulent lives here in the States. And
many millions of people suffer from lack of good distribution of food and
wealth. So the Lord will visit trials
upon us… trials that have the underlying purpose of causing us to come to
repentance. There’s that theme
again! Look for it in Amos chapter four:
Listen to me, you "fat
cows" of Samaria, you women who oppress
the poor and crush the needy and
who are always asking your husbands for another drink! The Sovereign Lord
has sworn this by his holiness: "The time
will come when you will be led away with
hooks in your noses. Every last one of you
will be dragged away like a fish on a hook! You will leave by going straight through the
breaks in the wall; you will be thrown from your fortresses. I, the Lord, have spoken!
Go ahead and offer your sacrifices to the
idols at Bethel and Gilgal. Keep on disobeying – your sins are mounting up! Offer sacrifices each morning and bring
your tithes every three days! Present
your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving. Then give your extra
voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere! This is the kind
of thing you Israelites love to
do," says the Sovereign Lord.
"I brought hunger to every city and famine
to every town. But still you wouldn't
return to me," says the Lord.
"I kept
the rain from falling when you needed it the most, ruining all your crops.
I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field,
while another field withered away. People staggered from one town to another
for a drink of water, but there was never enough. But still you wouldn't
return to me," says
the Lord.
"I struck your farms and vineyards with
blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the Lord.
"I sent plagues against you like the
plagues I sent against Egypt long ago. I killed your young men in war and
slaughtered all your horses. The stench of death filled the air! But still you wouldn't return to me," says the Lord.
"I destroyed some of your cities, as I
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like half-burned sticks
snatched from a fire. But still you
wouldn't return to me,"
says the Lord. (Verses 1-11)
Let’s leave behind our ways of
opulence and take up the Way of the Lord.
Return to God. Repent.
Protect the poor and needy. Sacrifice to God by the way you live your
life. That is the way to obedience… to
pleasing the Lord.
May it be so!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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