What Will It Take?
Are we truly seeking the Lord? This is a question I have been burdened over these last months. Perhaps in the beginning of the pandemic when things were more uncertain we sought God, but our current state seems to be complacency. The prophet Amos called God’s people to task for failing to seek Him. In Amos 4, the prophet presents three obstacles that keep us from seeking the Lord.
Prosperity. For Amos’ opening salvo in chapter 4, he calls the leading women of Samaria “Cows of Bashan.” Although generally it is inadvisable to associate members of the female gender with large farm animals, in this case Amos felt it warranted. He uses the illustration not because of the women’s great physical girth but because of their self-indulgent lifestyle. Just like the plump cattle that grazed this fertile region of Israel, God’s people had been fattened for slaughter. These wealthy individuals had obsessed with meeting their own needs to the disadvantage of the needy. Amos warned that judgement was coming and that they were going to experience a very undignified removal of their present luxury (Amos 4:2-3). Prosperity dulls our spiritual sensitivity and convinces us that we have no spiritual needs because our physical needs are met. Prosperity tells us that we do not need to seek the Lord even though this remains our greatest need. On some level every person in the West has a measure of prosperity; don’t let your prosperity keep you from seeking the Lord.
Playing church. In Amos 4:4-5 Amos puts forward a surprising call to worship. He invites the people to Bethel and Gilgal to sin. Of course Amos is utilizing sarcasm. His choice of wording is shocking but sometimes that is what it takes to get the attention of a complacent people. Even while living-self absorbed lives, the people apparently continued regular worship practices, even down to making the appropriate tithes and offerings. Amos points out that the people “loved” (4:5) to worship. Yet, their worship was an obstacle to them because they had convinced themselves that the only thing God cared about was the worship activity. Once they had presented their offerings, they went back to their selfish ways. They had dissociated worship with witness. They had satisfied their consciences that a ritual was all God required of them. We still do this today. It is easy for Christians just to play at church, to love worship instead of loving the Lord. Worship is supposed to impact the other 167 hours of our week! The practice of worship cannot make up for the lack of seeking the Lord.
Refusing to listen to the Lord. In Amos 4:6-11, the phrase “yet you have not returned to me” appears five different times. To return to the Lord is to repent. Amos mentions several catastrophes that the people had experienced and their response each time was the same. They did not heed the Lord. The nation experienced economic devastation, disease, and military defeat and still they did not return to the Lord. Amos concludes the chapter with a warning to God’s people: “Prepare to meet your God” (Amos 4:12). If God’s people won’t come to Him in repentance, God will come in judgment. The crises of life are appeals from heaven, but often they are not matched by an appeal to heaven from us.
This doesn’t have to be the end of the story. If you find your heart is complacent, remember God is merciful. The whole reason Amos delivered this warning is to invite the people to “Seek the Lord that you may live.” Don’t let prosperity blind you to your spiritual need. We need the Lord. Don’t be content to play at church. Let’s seek to worship and obey the Lord daily. With each new challenge let’s press in to the Lord!
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