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
I thought the truth was supposed to set people free. Isn't that what Jesus taught? Maybe someone should have told Amaziah that. Seems to me that when Amos spoke God's truth to Israel, Amaziah was offended—not freed. Like a child throwing a tantrum, Amaziah whined to the king. He didn't like what he heard and so he complained. If we're really honest with ourselves, we still do the same today. When the truth hurts, we deny, deflect, and defend ourselves. Like a bug hiding from the light, we scurry to find the safety of dark corners so we can hide from the change to which we are being called. But even the darkness is as light to our Lord Jesus who followed us to the very depths of death itself that we might yet be freed to walk in the light.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, when the truth hurts and I try to justify my actions, help me yet to walk by faith. Help me to trust your word and face my sin, that I might honestly repent and live a new life. Thank you for coming to find me in the dark places that I hide and continually raising me from death into life. Amen.