Amos 5:6 - Seek God And Live!
Amos 5:6 - Seek God And Live!
Amos 5:6 (KJV) Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break
out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be
none to quench it in Bethel.
We are to seek God, and live. Note that the text emphasizes seek
"Me." It's not religion that produces a just society, but personal
relationship with the living God. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary]
Throughout Amos chapter 5, in the midst of harsh judgment and
the announcement of more disasters to come, the Lord mercifully
calls his people to leave their idolatry, stop their wickedness,
corruption, and injustice, and return to him. "Come back to the Lord and
live," he tells them, before I "roar through Israel like a fire,
devouring you completely." He calls them to remember what he has done, to
look at creation, the constellations and stars at night. He reminds
them of who he is: the blessed controller of everything in nature. He
turns blackness into morning and day into night. He draws water from
the oceans and pours it down as rain. His power destroys the strong
and crushes all their defenses, causes the proud to stumble, and
strengthens the weak. The Lord Almighty is his name! Just as the Israelites
strayed when they forgot God and his deeds, so do we. One of the great
values of the Scriptures is that they call us back to the truth of who
God is. They give us word pictures of God's power and greatness so
that we will return to him in surrender and devotion---that we might
live.
Oh, LORD Almighty, who created the stars and turns darkness
into dawn and day into night, I bow before you. I praise you for
ruling over heaven and earth and with blinding speed and power"
crushing the wicked. Nothing can withstand your power! Thank you for your
Word, which reminds me of who you are and calls me back to devotion
and truth. Keep me from evil, and guide me along the path of life.
[Praying Through The Bible By Fuller]
There are certain parts of your background and makeup over
which you had no control. God never consulted you before he selected
your parents, color of hair, height, nationality, or shoe size. These
were determined by him before you were ever conceived (Psalm
139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5). Hearing that, you may be tempted to conclude life
is a fatalistic journey over which you have no control.
Not so! The Bible makes it clear there are important choices
that you and you alone must make: the decision to believe in Jesus
Christ for eternal life (John 3:16-18), the decision to live a life
distinct from the world (2 Corinthians 6:17), the decision to "Be good,
flee evil" (Amos 5:14). Your destiny is determined by choice, not
chance.
And as with any decision, it is impossible not to decide, for
to postpone the decision indefinitely is to decide already. Take
the three decisions mentioned in the previous paragraph and decide
on your response to each: will you ... or won't you? Choose
carefully, for your very life and happiness are at stake! [Daily Walk
Bible]
A union with Christ by living faith is enduring; every other
union must perish. Christ first chose us, paying an infinite price for
our redemption; and the true believer chooses Christ as first and
last and best in everything. But this union costs us something. It is
a union of utter dependence, to be entered into by a proud being.
All who form this union must feel their need of the atoning blood of
Christ. They must have a change of heart. They must submit their own
will to the will of God. There will be a struggle with outward and
internal obstacles. There must be a painful work of detachment as well as
a work of attachment. Pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness--sin
in all its forms--must be overcome if we would enter into a union
with Christ. The reason why many find the Christian life so
deplorably hard, why they are so fickle, so variable, is that they try to
attach themselves to Christ without first detaching themselves from
these cherished idols. After the union with Christ has been formed,
it can be preserved only by earnest prayer and untiring effort. We
must resist, we must deny, we must conquer self. Through the grace of
Christ, by courage, by faith, by watchfulness, we may gain the victory.
5T231
There are many whose hearts are aching under a load of care
because they seek to reach the world's standard. They have chosen its
service, accepted its perplexities, adopted its customs. Thus their
character is marred, and their life made a weariness. In order to gratify
ambition and worldly desires, they wound the conscience, and bring upon
themselves an additional burden of remorse. The continual worry is wearing
out the life forces. Our Lord desires them to lay aside this yoke of
bondage. He invites them to accept His yoke; He says, "My yoke is easy,
and My burden is light." He bids them seek first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness, and His promise is, that all things needful
to them for this life shall be added. Worry is blind, and cannot
discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every
difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our Heavenly Father has
a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing.
Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of
God supreme, will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before
their feet. DA330
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2005/20050829-0823.html
EXCELLENT VIDEO SERIES ON EXPERIENCING GOD:
http://sda.biggytv.com/watch/Revive!_-_Dwight_Nelson:_Experiencing_Gods_Grace/revive/
BIBLE PROPHECY SERIES ON REVELATION:
http://revelationtodaylive.com/live
