Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

The relative peace and prosperity brought about through political stability had certainly changed things. Not necessarily for the better. While it was wonderful to live without constant upheavals, the people had become complacent. Serving the God with whom they had promised to remain in covenant had become rote. They observed the feasts and assemblies. They offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and peace offerings. They played their religious music and sang their songs, but no matter how pious they appeared to onlookers, their hearts weren’t where they needed to be. They’d lost connection with God. They had broken their part of the everlasting covenant. (Amos 5:21-23)

It hadn’t happened all in one day. The evil one is more cunning than that. It likely happened a bit at a time. Perhaps it began subconsciously. Maybe he posed a nagging list of questions and suggestions similar to the one he presented to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Did God really intend for them to follow all those requirements when their land was peaceful and prosperous? Was God simply trying to keep them from having fun? Would a loving God make earthly opulence attainable, yet require them to abstain? What purpose could He possibly have for holding them back from the lifestyle wealth could give them? God surely didn’t mean all those statutes and requirements to be enforced when they were clearly living under His blessing. (Genesis 3:1-5)

And so it began. A little editing of the law here. A bit of boundary-pushing there. A half-truth. An outright lie. A blatant refusal to adhere to God’s statutes. A quick edit of the commandments. When immediate retribution failed to materialize, they became more flagrant in their disregard for the very guidelines that had rescued and preserved their people for centuries. Wealth, status, and extravagance became their gods. Their lust for hedonistic lifestyles sent them barreling past all the commands to look after the poor and, instead, saw them selling the poor into slavery so they could fund their opulent desires. They weren’t interested in listening to true prophets anymore, commanding them not to prophesy. They didn’t want to hear from God. They had no desire to change. So far down the selfish, wilful path of least resistance were they, it would take something horrendous to turn them around. (Amos 2:4, 6-8, 12; Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Leviticus 19:9-10, 15, 25:35; Exodus 21:16; Proverbs 22:22-23)

Something came. Many things, actually. Nothing phased them. Famine didn’t turn their heads. Drought didn’t stop them short. Blight, mildew, and locust infestations didn’t force them to rethink their stance. Pestilence and war had no effect. Even through the death of their young men they remained unmoved. Blinded by their affinity for wealthy accouterments, they chose not to return to God. Sacrificing justice and righteousness on the altar of self-gratification, lust and pride. It comes as no surprise then, that once the plagues had passed and not one soul turned back to God, He would instruct the herdsman Amos to sound the alarm through the terrifying words, “Prepare to meet your God!” His wrath. His judgment. Their consequences. (Amos 4)  

The words have a chilling tone to them. Ominous. Threatening. The God they are going to meet is mighty. His power is above every power. It is unfathomable, incomprehensible. Rising mountains. Blowing wind. Twinkling stars. Flowing waters. Day. Night. It is all in the power of His voice, the strength of His hand. He can kill and make alive with just the barest of thoughts, yet in steadfast love and abundant mercy, the great God of the universe who holds all power in the palm of His hand, who owes them nothing but wants to give them everything, offers to stay His hand. He required just one simple act on their part. Seek the Lord. (Amos 4:13-5:15)

It was such a small thing to ask. Return to the Lord. Seek good. Hate evil. Re-establish justice. There was nothing new there. Nothing they hadn’t heard before. Nothing God’s laws and directives hadn’t previously established. What God required of them had not changed. Love justice. Be filled with righteousness. Unfortunately, they were no longer interested. So drawn aside by their own lusts were they, that the call to repentance, to righteousness, was left unheeded. They would go on hypocritically performing their religious rituals, having a form of godliness void of any true spirituality, deceiving no one but themselves. When the days of bitter mourning and destruction came, as they sat bemoaning the loss of their extravagant lifestyles, there would be no one to blame but themselves. They silenced the prophets. Kicked Amos out of Judah. Chose not to hear. Opted out of listening. They effectively chose significant punishment over spiritual prosperity, leaving us to wonder about the choice. (Amos 3:2:11-12; 5:14-24; 6:12-14)

Why didn’t they just choose to return to the old paths? How hard could it be? They already know what to do. Why not just do it? Why not allow the rolling waters of true justice to flow through their nation, clearing out the things hindering their relationship with God and making way for the torrential, overflowing stream of righteousness to cleanse their hearts and lives? What was the holdup? Freeing justice and cleansing righteousness was the cry of God’s heart over them. He deeply, desperately wanted them to lay aside their dedication to rote religious habits. Their belief that keeping the offerings and assemblies and music flowing would be enough to preserve their souls was an abject fallacy. He wanted the waters of righteousness to roll over them in a never-ending stream, cleansing their hearts and making them truly spiritual through unequivocal dedication to God alone. I can’t help but believe He wants the same for you and me. (Amos 5:24)

The deal is this. You can go to church every Sunday, teach a class, preach a sermon, sing with the praise team, beat a drum or shake a tambourine, but if, when you leave that place, your life exhibits nothing of true godliness, you are wasting your time. God is not impressed or fooled by your ability to keep specific religious rituals, speak church lingo, or participate in special services. God wants to see Himself, His Word, His laws reflected in the dealings of your everyday life. He doesn’t want you to simply say you are His child. He wants you to live like it. (Matthew 3:8; Mark 12:31; I John 3:17; Proverbs 27:19; Ephesians 4:22)

God wants you to apply His justice to your life. He wants you to scrutinize and evaluate every nuance of your heart, every word on your lips, every thought in your mind. He wants you to measure each one by the law of His justice, carefully determining if there is something, anything that keeps you from living exactly as He requires. He wants your church attendance, your good works, your adherence to His laws to be more than just an act put on to enhance your religious appearance. God wants you to allow the rolling waters of his justice to cleanse your heart, push aside every obstruction, impediment, and hindrance, allowing you to live completely awash in the overflowing stream of His righteousness. And he wants your life to show it. (James 2:14-26; Hebrews 12:1; II Corinthians 13:5-7; Psalm 19:14)

There’s a little stream that flows through two of our pastures. For several months of the year, we pay it little attention as it babbles on its way to a waterfall down the mountain. Except in spring. In the spring we keep our eye on the creek. It floods every year. Some years modestly. Some years immensely. This year, as I read the words of God spoken through Amos, my mind immediately went to that creek. Although our pastures have ponds in them right now due to the overflow, in a month or so warmer temperatures will dry up the excess and the creek will recede. I have no concerns it will dry up, though. It never does. In even the hottest temperatures and driest conditions, the creek keeps flowing, fed by water rolling down from mountain stores. 

I hope the same can be said for us. I hope we stay under the rolling water of God’s justice and allow it to cleanse us from every impurity. I hope our lives reflect the ever-flowing stream of righteousness that follows in the wake of that cleansing. I hope we never move from that place to dry up and become nothing more than an oozing mud hole or dried-out creek bed of our own attempts at righteousness. We couldn’t survive that way. We weren’t meant to. Our needy souls require water. The same thing the people of Amos’ day needed. Rolling waters and rising streams that cleanse and dedicate our hearts to God alone. (Psalm 42:1-2; II Corinthians 5:21; Matthew 7:19-23; Psalm 119:131)