Amos 5-9

Reading Amos 5-9 today, was one of those hair raising kind of experiences.  God is just flat out fed up and disgusted with His people and their sins against Him.  He shows Amos some really horrible stuff that will bring total destruction, sparing no one.  That is scary to me, and I have a hard time reading Bible passages like that.  Why?  Because I am not sure what to do with them.  They are the verses that bring the fear of God into my here and now.


Amos 7 and the image of the plumb line really stood out to me.  I was curious about that.  First of all, I had no idea what it was.  I did a little google search and found a great resource at GoBible.org.  Basically, it is equivalent to our modern day level, the tool we use to make sure buildings and walls are straight.  A plumb line is a string with a weight at the bottom.  I also found a picture of a plumb line (click the following link to see it) that led me to an insightful blog post, "The Divine Plumb Line."  The author explains, 

First of all, "The Divine Plumbline" (in my own words) is a counseling technique that uses a symbolic picture of a plumbline being held by God. The plumbline He is holding is the plumbline of our life.

It turns out, that divine plumb line is a powerful image, at least for me.  God is holding our life in his hands.  The path to Him and His perfect plan for us is straight, but as human beings, we make decisions and take detours that, over time, cause the walls of our life to become crooked, less than straight.  Even one stray brick or building block can cause problems for our entire life structure if we are not careful.  That's why the Divine Plumb Line is so very important.  We can fix and renovate our lives with the measuring stick of God's plumb line.  That is where the Good News of God I love so much comes into my Bible reading today.  Even better than when Amos was alive, we have Jesus as our plumb line.  He is both our measuring stick and our Savior all in one.    

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

A prayer for today-

Dear Lord and Savior,

I am a sinner, prone to bad decisions, detours, and mistakes, big and little.  Give me the eyes to see my imperfections.  Thank you for sending me Your Son, Jesus Christ, as my divine plumb line.  I am so thankful that I do not have to be afraid of my sins.  Help me, Lord, accept the grace you so freely give me in Jesus.  Let your Holy Spirit show me how and where to rebuild the areas of my life that keep me from You.  Give me the determination and courage I need to live in Your truth.

In the name of Jesus, I pray,

Amen

    

May the love of Christ fill you all,