Sunday, February 20, 2022

Obedience, If They Like It Or Not….

Amos, the prophet, is a great example of being obedient to God’s calling. He prophesied in Israel, even though he was from the southern kingdom of Judah. When he was confronted by Amaziah (northern kingdom) and told to go home because they didn’t want to hear God’s truth of their destruction, he refused to back down. He told them what was going to happen if they didn’t repent. How much more should we as Christians be like that when it comes to standing up for truth in our politically correct society? Shouldn’t we present the gospel, with both our sinful nature and the solution to our sinful problem? Unless someone realizes they are born broken, and are an enemy of God destined for Hell, why would they embrace Jesus? They have no need. To them, Jesus is a good teacher or passive leader Who lived over 2000 years ago. I’ve even had a person tell me Jesus was a Yogi. Without a proper diagnosis of a disease, the only medication to cure it, is seen as unnecessary. It’s our job to present the gospel, every aspect of it: Hell, sin, death, evil, enemies of God, hopeless on our own, not works righteous based, rescue, redemption, grace, our position in Christ when we repent, salvation, and Heaven, but do it with gentleness and respect. All of these factor into the proper presentation of the gospel. The gospel is only good news when a person realizes the bad news first. Then we leave it to God to penetrate their soul, if it’s His will for them. Our job is to present it to everyone we come into contact with, it’s God’s job to change a hardened heart. We don’t know who will respond or who won’t, we just continue to speak truth and do our best to model it. That’s our commission, to make disciples of all nations. Amos did exactly what he was told to do, and so should we. It starts with a commitment to truth, regardless if people like it or not.

12 Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! 13 Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!”14 But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to My people in Israel.’ 16 Now then, listen to this message from the Lord: “You say,‘Don’t prophesy against Israel.Stop preaching against my people.’17 But this is what the Lord says:‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city,and your sons and daughters will be killed.Your land will be divided up,and you yourself will die in a foreign land.And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile,far from their homeland.’ ” Amos 7:12-17

No comments:

Post a Comment

Education…Exercises Our Pride….

I can’t help but think about education when I read today’s scripture passage. Higher education to be exact. I don’t know the percentage bu...