Amos 5:4 This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
“Seek me and live.”

The Old Testament prophets spent a lot of their time calling people to repentance. Amos operated in the Northern Kingdom, that was eventually conquered by Assyria. They had already lost their ties to Jerusalem and the temple Solomon built, so those who remembered their history, at least, tended to associate God with other places where He had interacted with their ancestors. That’s why, in the next verse, God tells them not to seek out those locations, in contrast to what He says here: to seek Him. God used Amos and other prophets to tell the people that He Himself was the way to life, but they didn’t listen very well. The same thing may be said today. Those who know God through the Gospel are calling people to life, to joy and peace, but the devil has so blinded nonbelievers that they prefer their physical pleasures to their Creator. Circumstances change, but human nature remains the same! The world we live in today would be totally unrecognizable to Amos and those he spoke to, but the spiritual realities are remarkably consistent. We have so many physical luxuries that we forget we need God, and that puts us in the same place as the people to whom Amos was speaking. God is the only source of life, and without repentance, that becomes an inescapable discovery. Those who do know Him need to keep watch over their own priorities, because it is all too easy to slip into the world’s thought patterns. If our priorities are right, we will also be active in seeking God, so that we and they too may live.

I have spent the majority of my life as a pastor, but that doesn’t mean my priorities have always been right. The pressures of the world and the devil are unrelenting, so I’ve got to be intentional and consistent in seeking God, His kingdom and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33) Everything else is momentary at best, and actively destructive at worst. That doesn’t mean that I’m to ignore the world around me, but I am to be salt and light, changing the world rather than being shaped by it. (Romans 12:2) I am to be a consistent demonstration of the love and grace of God, so that people may know that He exists, and that He is as available to them as He is to me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the message through my sister in faith in the service yesterday, and for the business meeting and all that went on in it. Thank You that some people are waking up to the reality that You have plans to use them, for Your kingdom and Your glory. I pray that everyone in the church would wake up to that degree, at least, so that we may be an effective squad in Your army, causing Your name to be acknowledged as holy and Your rule and reign be established as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!