I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

     The first thing to take note of is that Amos was a shepherd when God called him to his ministry. He was not one of the elites, nor was he particularly well-educated. If God could call Amos to be one of the men who wrote part of the Bible, He could call you or me for a similar role. Certainly, He has a ministry in mind for us that is just as important to Him as Amos’ ministry was.
     First Amos prophesies against all of Israel’s and Judah’s near neighbors. He prophesies their destruction for their sins. Then he prophesies the destruction of Judah and Israel. He indicts them for selling the honourable and the poor. They trample the helpless and abuse the oppressed. They are immoral and corrupt. Then he comes to the worst of their sins, they forced those who had made vows to the Lord to serve Him break those vows and silenced the prophets whom God had sent to warn them of their sin. The people have forgotten how to do what is right and all of their wealth was acquired by deceit and violence.
     I read this and see that this indictment holds against our society today. Can God’s judgment be long in coming if we do not change our ways and turn back to Him?

     In today’s passage we have the messages for the first three of the seven Churches. I believe that every Christian group falls into one of these seven categories. The first category is that of the Church of Ephesus. Those in this group work hard for God and are patient in waiting for Him to work His will in this world. They will not tolerate those who do evil in the name of God or Christ, who use religion as a cover for self-aggrandizement. They hate the practices of those who use the freedom we have through Christ as an excuse for immorality (the Nicolaitans, more of my thoughts on them later). However, they have lost their enthusiasm, their love, for Christ and doing God’s work. They continue to do God’s work, but it is out of obligation and duty, not out of love. Let us serve God, not because we are obligated to do so, but because our love for Him makes it a joy to do what He desires. If you have forgotten the joy of serving the Lord, search your heart and fall to your knees, asking the Spirit to bring it back to you.
     The second category of Christian group is the Church of Smyrna. They are poor and they are suffering persecution. They face opposition from groups who claim to serve God, but actually reject His commands. They face prison and martyrdom. However, they are rich in faith and the joy of serving the Lord. They are enthusiastic for Christ and give of what they have to help those in even greater need. Let us praise God if we find ourselves amongst such Christians.
     The third category is the Church of Pergamum. They remain loyal to Christ despite living among those who dedicated themselves to serving Satan (I do not think that this refers to Satanists per se). Despite the fact that they live among people who worship actions which are evil and immoral, they strive to follow God’s commands. However, they tolerate those who use the freedom we have in Christ and God’s grace in forgiving our sins as an excuse to justify sins of various kinds, but especially sexual immorality. There are two groups among these whom they tolerate. Those who seduce people away from God by encouraging their baser instincts and lusts and those who use these base instincts and lusts to gain power over people. Those who use people’s base instincts and lust to control them include people like David Koresh and Jim Jones, but there are others who are not as obvious. We are to reject such people from our fellowship, so that we, and our weaker brothers and sisters, will not be tempted by their evil. We must not have an attitude of “go along to get along” with such people.

     The Lord will free us from being bound to serve the ungodly. The psalmist instructs us to refrain from blessing those who hate the City of God and righteousness. I do not believe by this he means (or at least that God intends us to interpret it that way) that we should refuse to desire that good things happen to those who reject God and righteousness. Rather, my understanding is that we should not offer our support to efforts to work against righteousness and God’s will.

     Sometimes it takes more than words to convince people to mend their ways. They may understand what you say, but if they suffer no consequences for their bad behavior, they will not change what they do. It is worse to say something without thinking about how it will be understood than it is to take ill-advised action.