Amos 5: Seeking

"If you aim at nothing," the old saying goes, "you will hit it every time."  Have you ever thought about the importance of your target - what you are seeking?  Amos 5 contains instruction about the important consideration of what we are looking for, and what God is looking for.

For instance, several times we are directly enjoined to seek God and/or His goodness.   In fact, that is the key to life and continued fellowship with the Lord!

• "For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and live" (vs. 4).
• "Seek the Lord and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it" (vs. 6).
• "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said" (vs. 14).

It is very important to the prophet (and to the Lord) that we seek such godly practices as justice, truth, righteousness, integrity, and treating the needy with respect.  Unfortunately, Israel is guilty of seeking after such sins as bribes, greed, selfishness, and ways to abuse and misuse the poor.

Amos points out that some people foolishly seek after and long for the day of the Lord.  "Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!" calls the prophet, using colorful comparisons.  "Why do you want for the day of the Lord?  It is darkness, not light; as if someone fled from a lion and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake.  Is not the day of the Lord, darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?" (vs. 18-20)  Amos helpfully reminds us here that we should be careful what we wish for!  The day of the Lord will not be a happy occasion for most but instead a time of realizing how far from God we have fallen.

So, what is God seeking from us?  Amos first points out that the Lord is not interested in empty worship, as if that would save us.  "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies" (vs. 21).  Sacrifices are not the way to God's heart.  Instead, obedience is.  Using a phrase that would one day make its way into a famous speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., Amos says, "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (vs. 24).

THAT'S what God is seeking - the same things that will lead us to life and Him!