“You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless.” Amos 8:5a NLT
In reading this verse, it reminded me and caused me to question my attitude and focus while serving the Lord. Am I all in, or am I strictly going through the required motions while having my thoughts being focused elsewhere?
And what about our Spiritual walk? Are we pursuing our secular, sinful desires more than building and solidifying our relationship with the Lord? Do we rush through our daily devotions, only to find ourselves seeking that which is wrong and contrary to what we just read?
As we journey through the days of the week, may we not grow too weary for the Sabbath. May our desire of being in communion with our God surpass all other desires, and that our serving does not become a “to-do” list or a burden upon us, but that we would be filled with joy while serving the Lord.
Lock Your Wings 
As children of God in a sinful world we are faced with temptation every day. The devil wants us to put up a wall with our Christian life on one side and our worldly desires on the other. But our Father God tore down His barrier in the temple when His Son gave the ultimate sacrifice for us at Calvary. Another barrier was not part of His plan of Salvation!
God bless you Conrad, thanks for your posts brother.
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This stood out for me: ““What do you see, Amos?” he asked. I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.” Then the Lord said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again.”
Amos 8:2 NLT
When we are choosing fruit to eat right now, we look for perfect ripe fruit. Not too hard or green. Not too soft or sad looking. Not bruised or blemished but ripe and juicy and ready to eat. When God sent the vision to Amos, he saw the ripe fruit as perfect…from the outside. The appearance was perfect but the Lord said perfect for punishment. Looks can be deceiving.
Related:
“Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord’s word.”
Amos 8:13 NLT
Young people also seem “ripe” and perfect … on the outside. But only God knows what the future holds for them and though it seems they have so much time left in their life it can unexpectedly come to an end. A 15 year old young man recently passed and we are thankful for his relationship with God and the chance to see him again one day. Maybe young people think they have all the time in the world to thirst after God, but they don’t really know when their time will be up.
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Well said Alan. Thank you for the reminder that God has and will continue to tear down those barriers that Satan tries to use to separate us with our Lord.
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So true. We can only see what is on the outside, but God sees how blemished our hearts and minds are, that which is inside.
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