- The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.” Amos 8:7 – The Israel that Amos prophesied to was one that was very content in their sinful ways. They abused the poor among them, they were corrupt in their business practices, and their worship of God was a superficial version of worship that truly didn’t mean anything to them. Beyond that there was still idolatry and other sinful practices among God’s people. Amos’ role was to tell Israel to turn from such sin and return to the Lord, but we see in our verse how the people would have rather handled their sin. They hoped that the Lord would eventually forget about their sin and they’d no longer have to deal with the consequences. Yet, as we see in our verse, the Lord never forgets our deeds. The sins we do are never forgotten by the Lord, meaning no amount of time will erase those sins from our life. The sin we did as a child still hold condemnation on us even when we are ninety if we haven’t had it taken care of. If time though doesn’t erase the sin from our life, what can? Only the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. Only turning to Jesus, asking for Him to forgive your sin, and choosing to follow Him with your life will the sin in your story be taken care of. This is the only pathway to forgiveness and any other means of trying to erase your sin will fail you. Time will not cause God to forget your sin and your abundance of good deeds will not cover your bad deeds. Only Jesus can remove sin from our life. Israel needed to turn to God for their forgiveness, and we need to turn to God for forgiveness. Only the Lord has the power to forgive, so let’s stop wasting our life hoping other things can do what only the Lord can in our life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3296
- Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the sheckel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” (v.4-6) Let’s say you get the chance to have a one-on-one talk with a prisoner that was arrested for theft. In your conversation, the prisoner could do nothing but talk about how when he is out of here how he is going to steal everything that he can. He’s going to steal bigger items than he ever did before. Showing that nothing has changed and he has no plans of changing. While I’m all for the process of healing and giving prisoners second chances, if they show absolutely no desire for a change in their life, why would we want to give someone freedom only to find himself in shackles again? This probably isn’t the best example, but that’s what we see happening in these few verses. God is explaining why He hasn’t relented from His wrath. It’s because not only have the people not changed, their hearts are longing for the chance to sin even more. My encouragement to you with this devotion is if God has directed you away from a certain way of life, take His lead and step away from it. Only longing for the life God has directed you away from will only bring about disappointment and un-fulfillment. Recognize if God is leading you away from it, it’s because He has something better for you. Continuing to long after it and strive after it won’t change the amount of fulfillment that thing will bring into your story. Letting go of it is truly your way of stepping closer to the path that God knows will bring the fulfillment you’ve really be searching for. – Daily DEVO 50
- …saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances,” Amos 8:5 – Literally what is happening here is the people are saying, “When will the time of me having to dedicate time to God be over so I can get back to what I want to do.” That sounds so disrespectful to God, and us as the readers of this passage may be tempted to look in judgement on the people spoken of in Amos…but let’s check ourselves first. Is this mindset ever something we see come up in our story? Do we ever sit at 11:55am on a Sunday morning thinking to ourselves “how will the pastor get his last point in this message within these five minutes we have left to the sermon? I have a game to go home and watch.” Or have we ever stayed stayed home from a Bible study simply because we wanted to do our own thing? Let’s check ourselves first before casting too much judgement on the people here. Let’s have a heart that cherishes the time we have dedicated to God. Let your attitude within those times show God you actually want to spend time with Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1199
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” Amos 8:11 – This past Wednesday I spoke with the youth on how important it is to be watchful of the things we are consuming. This upcoming week we’re going to continue that idea about making sure we are taking in time with Jesus like we need to. That He is the bread of life and the source of living water. What’s scary about this passage is showing how the choice to keep consuming sin can close off the communication channels between us and God. The bread of life, the living water, the word of God we need to be consuming, we aren’t and our choice to chase after sin is making it impossible to chase after God. Choosing to pursue your sin will leave you hungry, thirsty, and, as the passage reminds us, in a state of silence from God. So are you asking for help, asking for answers, asking for reasons why from God yet at the same time making no changes when it comes to your sin? Don’t expect the words from God you’re looking for. Set aside the sin, repent, and begin a pursuit after Jesus again. In that pursuit is the bread, water, and word we need to make it through life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2084
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