Devotion:
Read Amos 5:21-24.
I was in the fifth grade. I had been told to stop throwing rocks out on the playground at school. But I liked throwing rocks and I wanted to do whatever I wanted to do. Nobody was playing basketball on that end of the court and I probably thought I could take another kind of shot at hitting that backboard and nobody would notice. But somebody on the safety patrol saw me and soon I was headed to the principal’s office. She pointed out that I had been told not to do that anymore and asked me if I thought about the possibility that I could have hurt somebody else.
I had not. Sometimes we live our lives without giving much thought to what is going on to people around us. We make decisions and do things, both for ourselves and along with others, that can negatively impact the lives of other people.
Through the prophet Amos, God emphasizes that there are limits to our freedom, especially when it creates injustice for others. Throughout the Old Testament (and all the Bible), one of the primary things that upset God was the Children of Israel not treating the most vulnerable among them with justice. After all, they were the very people who had been called to represent God. The Lord had freed them from slavery in Egypt and now they were using their freedom selfishly. Amos made it clear that God would hold them accountable for such behavior. The lesson still applies for all who seek to represent this God: we are to use our freedom to seek freedom for everyone.
Personal Worship Option:
Who do you see who is being treated unfairly? How might God be calling you to help set them free?
No comments:
Post a Comment