I hope you are enjoying our summer series from the OT prophets. Remember, if you are away any Sunday and miss the message, you can catch it online by Monday afternoon. I encourage you to spend time getting to know the prophets more. They communicate a lot about the character and uniqueness of God our creator and saviour. This week I will introduce you to Amos, one of the twelve minor prophets that spoke to Israel for God about their spiritual condition. There are only nine chapters in the entire book so read through it over the next few days to gain an overview of what was going on.
God first had words of judgment for neighbouring countries of Israel as a reminder that divine justice will be served on all mankind for their actions. However, most of the book of Amos records God making his case against Israel for its stubborn refusal to be godly over and over again. The day of reckoning was fast approaching for them which they should have known because God had spoken to them often through the prophets he sent to them on his behalf.
The message of Amos is a warning that still resonates today. Prepare to meet your God. Every person is responsible to get his or her affairs in order because one day they are going to stand before the Lord to give an account of how they have lived their lives. Living for God by obeying his ways or living for themselves and disobeying God are the only two choices that will matter.
We know from history that Israel wasn’t prepared to meet God and suffered great devastation because of it. They had no excuse for things ending up the way they did because they had been warned over and over but had refused to make the change from living their way to living God’s way.
We too have been warned. We have no excuse not to be prepared to meet God. So let’s live every day like it could be our last. Let’s be ready to meet Jesus and receive a rich welcome into his eternal kingdom. And let’s influence as many other people as we can to get themselves prepared to meet God with us and share in our eternal joy.
As always, I look forward to meeting with you this Sunday for worship and the word. Come expecting God to be with us once more in a special way.
Blessings.
Pastor Del