Amos 5:14-24
14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. 15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: “In all the squares there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation, 17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord. 18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, 19 as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? 21 “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. 24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
I imagine God must be saddened by how often we glorify sin. We are particularly prone to do this with sexual sin, where the media takes something that is actually evil and turns it into something to snicker at and secretly desire. When our hearts are with the world, we enjoy the sinful trash that it offers, but as we draw near to Christ we begin to see the harmful effects of what used to amuse us. Thus God through Amos calls us to "hate evil, and love good" (verse 15). It is not enough to once a week say we're sorry for our sins, while enjoying them the rest of the time. This is why God says that "I take no delight in your solemn assemblies" (verse 21). The words are meaningless unless our behaviors match them. We need a true change of heart, which will change what we love and hate, and thus change our behaviors. Then our religious assemblies will be times of praise rather than times of guilt-ridden sacrifices.
Lord, change my heart to love what You love.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. 15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: “In all the squares there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation, 17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord. 18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, 19 as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? 21 “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. 24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
I imagine God must be saddened by how often we glorify sin. We are particularly prone to do this with sexual sin, where the media takes something that is actually evil and turns it into something to snicker at and secretly desire. When our hearts are with the world, we enjoy the sinful trash that it offers, but as we draw near to Christ we begin to see the harmful effects of what used to amuse us. Thus God through Amos calls us to "hate evil, and love good" (verse 15). It is not enough to once a week say we're sorry for our sins, while enjoying them the rest of the time. This is why God says that "I take no delight in your solemn assemblies" (verse 21). The words are meaningless unless our behaviors match them. We need a true change of heart, which will change what we love and hate, and thus change our behaviors. Then our religious assemblies will be times of praise rather than times of guilt-ridden sacrifices.
Lord, change my heart to love what You love.