Amos 2
Find Relief from your Heavy Burdens!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, September 2.
The first two chapters of Amos consist of eight oracles of judgment, with the first six aimed at neighboring nations, and the last two focused on Judah and Israel. The people of God may have thought they would escape God’s wrath, but Amos made it very clear that all people are accountable to God. The prophet explained to Israel the effects of sin in Amos 2:13-16:
“Behold, I am weighted down beneath you as a wagon is weighted down when filled with sheaves. Flight will perish from the swift, and the stalwart will not strengthen his power, nor the mighty man save his life. He who grasps the bow will not stand his ground, the swift of foot will not escape, nor will he who rides the horse save his life. Even the bravest among the warriors will flee naked in that day,” declares the Lord.
The NIV translated the beginning of verse 13, “Now then, I will crush you, … .” While this is the end game of God’s judgment for sin, as Romans 6:23 explains, “for the wages of sin is death,” it is also the ongoing effect of living under the burden of sin. You become “weary and heavy-laden” when you have unconfessed sin in your life, like a soldier in battle who has become panic stricken, losing his speed, strength, coordination, and bravery. The ongoing effects of sin, like the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, exhaust you, making you unfruitful and ineffective in the life of God (2 Peter 1:2-9; Psalm 32). There is a way to be healed of both your sin burden and your PTSD.
Seize the moment and find relief from your heavy burdens by taking on the easy yoke of Jesus Christ, finding rest for your soul in a relationship with God, which will strengthen your spiritual vitality and allow you to experience the abundant life (Matthew 11:28-30; John 10:10).
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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