Amos 7:7-15 (NRSV)
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Verse 7This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. Verse 8And the Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; Verse 9the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."
Verse 10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. Verse 11For thus Amos has said, 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'" Verse 12And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; Verse 13but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom." Verse 14Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, Verse 15and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
Devotion
“God could use someone like you!” I remember feeling a little awkward when reading that slogan upon the water bottle given to all the seniors in my class at Luther Seminary. My response internally was, “Jeez I hope so!” God’s call of Amos to go prophesy to God’s people is a reminder that God not only can, but will use someone like you. God uses all people to further the Kingdom. God continues to call people in ways that may seem just as odd as the calling of Amos, the herdsman and the dresser of sycamore trees. So, perhaps the water bottle should read, “God IS using someone like you and God WILL continue to call you to go and share the Good News with the world.”
Prayer
Lord God, you call us out of our comfortableness to be your witness in this world. Give us the courage to speak a word of truth like Amos, and always remember that you have called us and you will never abandon us. Amen.