Your neighbor leans over the fence and tells you he’s going to do it. He’s going to leave your neighborhood and move into that nice section of town. He’s finally made it – a high-paying job, a nice car, new furniture, even a country-club membership. Yes, he’s arrived. But during the conversation, there is something nagging at you. You realize that your neighbor never mentions anyone else but himself –his goals, his dreams, his toys. Behind that smile, you begin to see he is hiding a mountain of pain and uncertainty – a shaky marriage, unruly kids, intense job pressure, a need for status and image, a need for belonging. The pursuit of things has become his intoxicating drink, his addicting drug, his materialistic fix to temporarily dull the pain and emptiness he so often faces. The sad thing is, he doesn’t even realize it.
Things haven’t changed much since the time of Amos. On the surface, the days in which Amos lived were a golden age for Israel, the northern kingdom. Jeroboam II had won important trade routes in battle that brought wealth to the capital city, Samaria. With favorable weather, crops were bountiful and people prospered. Beautiful homes and elegant public buildings seemed to be going up everywhere. It seemed like a wonderful time to be alive in the northern kingdom.
But all was not well. While rich men and women went to sleep on ivory beds, others were selling themselves and their children into slavery in order to stay alive.
Many got their wealth by cheating –mixing husks into grain, weighing goods on rigged scales, gouging the poor with unreasonable interest rates. The golden era of Israel was tarnished with ugly dishonesty, bribery, and a wide range of other evils. It was the “me” generation of Israel, when people lived for self, when the accumulation of possessions was the priority. (Wow! Yes, much has not changed. That is exactly what is going on today!)
Enter Amos. He was not a professional preacher or prophet. He was a herdsman. That may suggest that he had wealth, honest wealth. God called him to leave his home near Jerusalem in Judah, the southern kingdom, and go to Israel to be an activist, to speak out against the evils of that society. Amos obeyed.
The message of Amos was not only for the northern kingdom but for prosperous people of every society. Amos was not preaching against accumulation of money; apparently he was quite comfortable himself. He was preaching against the greedy misuse of money, when those who have more refuse to help those who have less. And it is even worse when wealth is acquired through dishonest means.
For those of us today who have a measure of prosperity, Amos has a strong message: Be honest in all our dealings. Be compassionate with those who have less than you do. In all things, remember what God wants you to be and do.
For those of us who do not have even a measure of prosperity, Amos still provides a valuable lesson: Prosperity is one of the greatest destroyers of a person’s relationship with God. God may be sparing you from a path that would send you spinning toward tragedy.
Wealth or no wealth, complacency toward God and his moral standards is a sin that leads to disaster. (Touch Point Bible)
Lord, thank you for your Word today! Thank you for blessing us with another opportunity to study your amazing Word! Open our minds and hearts to receive your intended lessons, give us the discernment to recognize your truth, and help us avoid becoming complacent with you and your teaching. Lord, we love you!
May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
….AND MAY WE ALL PRACTICE THIS WITH ONE ANOTHER.
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