Missing the signs
This week is on Amos 4:4-9:
These verses are interesting. The describe a religiously active faith community that is completely out of touch with God. God lists all of the things they do, and then he lists all of the missed opportunities for dialog with him. They're on autopilot before autopilot was even a thing.
The Israelites were sinning all over the place. They had a lifestyle of sin. God mockingly tells them to keep it up. "Sin in Bethel and go sin even more in Gilgal!" It's no secret to God. It was a secret to them.
While they were living their lifestyle of sin, they packed their schedule full of religious activities. They gave tons of money to the church. They had constant religious services, making sacrifices and offerings. In their minds, they were the very picture of perfect righteousness. They went above and beyond. They were doing everything they thought God had asked, and a lot of stuff more that he didn't. They were so proud of their righteousness that they couldn't see how far off course they'd gone.
God withheld food and rain, and even went so far as to blight their harvests. It wasn't even so much a punishment as a way of getting their attention, like when the power company shuts off the power for nonpayment, or the landlord changes the locks because the back rent isn't caught up. He's saying "Hey, I'm not happy. You're ignoring me. What do I need to do to get your attention so we can talk?"
These were all pretty huge things, but the Israelites didn't notice them. They probably just rationalized it away. "We're low on food, but so is everyone. Imagine how much worse things would be if we weren't so righteous!" "It hasn't rained in months, but sometimes God does stuff we don't like. If he was really unhappy with us, he'd say something." They operated under the presumption that everything they did was sweet and awesome. They didn't need God, because they already had their own form of righteousness. The answer to "Am I OK?" was always "Yes."
But how stubborn do we have to be to not at least check in with God when things go wrong? People in every city are starving, and they don't cry out to God? From what I've heard, true starvation hunger is a more intense desire than even the drive for sex or money. It preoccupies your thoughts. You get delirious in your quest for food. So even though the Israelites were that consumed by their lack of food, nobody thought to check in with God. How self-absorbed do you have to be to not think of God in that situation?
God even withheld water from them. Water is an even more intense desire than food! Still, nobody said anything. Nobody got God on the main line and asked for what they wanted. How do you press forward even when you're dying of thirst? The drought was even on specific fields, not everywhere, and they still didn't think something was odd. How many farms do we have today where one farm gets rained on but the guys on either side don't? Nobody thought something was strange about that?
God even struck some of their crops with blight. Blight is terrible. I've had one kind of blight in my garden. One day your tomato plant is full of tomatoes and is happy and green and vibrant. The next day the plant is brown and withered and all of the tomatoes are blackened and rotting on the vine. You can lose your entire garden like that. God struck them multiple times with blight, and nobody cried out to God for their lost crops. "Whatever. Luck of the draw. It can't be us. We're God's chosen. We're righteous."
People were going around bragging about how much God had favored them, when their lives were pretty messed up. They pointed to their own behavior and boasted about how righteous it was, when God was actually not happy about it at all. God cut the power, and the water, and stopped delivery of packages, all in the hopes that they'd come out of their fantasyland and come talk to him. Nothing. They were so high on their own awesomeness that they couldn't think of anything but themselves.
We have to be careful we don't end up in similar situations. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. But sometimes they happen to bad people too. We can't just automatically assume we're good people and ignore God. He wants to talk with us. He wants to be included in our lives. When we decide on our own that everything is OK when it's not, we're only hurting ourselves. Things got worse and worse for the Israelites, but they were convinced nothing was wrong.
When bad things happen, do you talk with God? Or do you just press forward? Do you just assume you're OK with God, or do you ask him? Do you go for long periods without praying or seeking? Do you spend most of your time boasting about your own religious activity? Your position in the church? The amount of time you've been saved?
The number of people reached by your ministry? Your plans? Just be careful you're not on religious autopilot. Unless you're checking in with God periodically, it's impossible to tell the difference between that and living by the spirit. Sometimes Christians endure hardship to build their character. But other times hardship is a sign that you need to have a talk with God. Don't wait till he shuts off the water. Talk to him.
“Go to Bethel and sin;
go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years.
Burn leavened bread as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offerings—
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.
“I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
“I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
These verses are interesting. The describe a religiously active faith community that is completely out of touch with God. God lists all of the things they do, and then he lists all of the missed opportunities for dialog with him. They're on autopilot before autopilot was even a thing.
The Israelites were sinning all over the place. They had a lifestyle of sin. God mockingly tells them to keep it up. "Sin in Bethel and go sin even more in Gilgal!" It's no secret to God. It was a secret to them.
While they were living their lifestyle of sin, they packed their schedule full of religious activities. They gave tons of money to the church. They had constant religious services, making sacrifices and offerings. In their minds, they were the very picture of perfect righteousness. They went above and beyond. They were doing everything they thought God had asked, and a lot of stuff more that he didn't. They were so proud of their righteousness that they couldn't see how far off course they'd gone.
God withheld food and rain, and even went so far as to blight their harvests. It wasn't even so much a punishment as a way of getting their attention, like when the power company shuts off the power for nonpayment, or the landlord changes the locks because the back rent isn't caught up. He's saying "Hey, I'm not happy. You're ignoring me. What do I need to do to get your attention so we can talk?"
These were all pretty huge things, but the Israelites didn't notice them. They probably just rationalized it away. "We're low on food, but so is everyone. Imagine how much worse things would be if we weren't so righteous!" "It hasn't rained in months, but sometimes God does stuff we don't like. If he was really unhappy with us, he'd say something." They operated under the presumption that everything they did was sweet and awesome. They didn't need God, because they already had their own form of righteousness. The answer to "Am I OK?" was always "Yes."
But how stubborn do we have to be to not at least check in with God when things go wrong? People in every city are starving, and they don't cry out to God? From what I've heard, true starvation hunger is a more intense desire than even the drive for sex or money. It preoccupies your thoughts. You get delirious in your quest for food. So even though the Israelites were that consumed by their lack of food, nobody thought to check in with God. How self-absorbed do you have to be to not think of God in that situation?
God even withheld water from them. Water is an even more intense desire than food! Still, nobody said anything. Nobody got God on the main line and asked for what they wanted. How do you press forward even when you're dying of thirst? The drought was even on specific fields, not everywhere, and they still didn't think something was odd. How many farms do we have today where one farm gets rained on but the guys on either side don't? Nobody thought something was strange about that?
God even struck some of their crops with blight. Blight is terrible. I've had one kind of blight in my garden. One day your tomato plant is full of tomatoes and is happy and green and vibrant. The next day the plant is brown and withered and all of the tomatoes are blackened and rotting on the vine. You can lose your entire garden like that. God struck them multiple times with blight, and nobody cried out to God for their lost crops. "Whatever. Luck of the draw. It can't be us. We're God's chosen. We're righteous."
People were going around bragging about how much God had favored them, when their lives were pretty messed up. They pointed to their own behavior and boasted about how righteous it was, when God was actually not happy about it at all. God cut the power, and the water, and stopped delivery of packages, all in the hopes that they'd come out of their fantasyland and come talk to him. Nothing. They were so high on their own awesomeness that they couldn't think of anything but themselves.
We have to be careful we don't end up in similar situations. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. But sometimes they happen to bad people too. We can't just automatically assume we're good people and ignore God. He wants to talk with us. He wants to be included in our lives. When we decide on our own that everything is OK when it's not, we're only hurting ourselves. Things got worse and worse for the Israelites, but they were convinced nothing was wrong.
When bad things happen, do you talk with God? Or do you just press forward? Do you just assume you're OK with God, or do you ask him? Do you go for long periods without praying or seeking? Do you spend most of your time boasting about your own religious activity? Your position in the church? The amount of time you've been saved?
The number of people reached by your ministry? Your plans? Just be careful you're not on religious autopilot. Unless you're checking in with God periodically, it's impossible to tell the difference between that and living by the spirit. Sometimes Christians endure hardship to build their character. But other times hardship is a sign that you need to have a talk with God. Don't wait till he shuts off the water. Talk to him.
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