During Challenge 2008, I made a promise that I would go through an old Testament book during my quiet time. God laid it on my heart to read the book of Amos. I had never really read through or studied Amos. It really wasn't because I thought of it as a boring book or a book that was hard to understand...Rather, it was just simply a book of God's word that I had glanced through. As I began to dig deep into scripture, I uncovered something not so profound, but lifechanging for me. In the next several lines, if you choose to read that far, you will see the heart that God is working on...Here it goes...
I am complacent. And God hates complacency. You see, the whole book of Amos is littered with God telling his people that they are not on the straight and narrow path! It is a book that displays God's glory and his splendor and his majesty...But even moreso than all of those attributes, it displays his JUSTICE. He is a completely just God and we often say that, but when we really think about what Just looks like, it's not a good thing for me and you that God is just! He reams Israel over their inability to obey his word and what he has asked them to do...In fact, in his justice, he displays his power. He promises an earthquake. He promises captivity. He promises all kinds of different consequences. And I am completely amazed that each time that there is a consequence that is imminent, Amos says "God, please spare them." And God does...But he doesn't continue to spare them...The Israelites went into captivity. They experienced the earthquake. God wasn't blowing smoke.
What do I do with my complacency? Amos 6:1- "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come..." Woe to you who are complacent...
Are we a complacent people? What if we got outside of the normalcy of life and developed the heart of Jesus that is radically in love with broken people...? Would our churches look different? You bet. They might be messy. (They are messy right now...We just choose to frequently wear masks.) But what would happen if God's people stopped their complacency and woke up from their stupor and began to live the gospel in a radical way?
What if I stopped my complacency and woke up from my stupor and began to live the gospel in a radical way? That's what God asked Israel to do...That's what Jesus asks me to do.
By the way, I don't know that I've enjoyed Isaiah, but God is messing with my heart which is exciting!
Father, give me the strength, your strength in this issue of complacency...Show me your heart...let me follow you completely!
-PC
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