Amos 7
Straighten up Crooked Christian!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, September 7.
Are you a crooked Christian? Are your thoughts, words, or behaviors out of alignment with your faith? In Amos 7:7-8, like a master craftsman, ensuring that the house He had built was a safe place to be His home, God used a plumb line to demonstrate that His judgment of Israel’s crookedness was true according to an objective standard: “Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The Lord said to me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ And I said, ‘A plumb line.’ Then the Lord said, ‘Behold I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.’”
A plumb line is that objective standard; it’s a builder’s tool composed of a string with a weight at the end of it, which is hung from the top of a wall to ensure that it’s true, meaning it is perpendicular to the center gravity of the ground. In today’s passage, the plumb line represents God’s unwavering standard of righteousness and justice, demonstrating that Israel was crooked, out of alignment with God’s covenant and commandments.
All Christians are crooked and need to undergo construction. None of us can be found true according to the plumb line of the Law (Romans 3:20-23); therefore, God sent Jesus Christ to be our living, ever-present plumb line (John 1:17; Romans 5:20-21; Colossians 1:15-20). Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-15), and, by God’s grace, through your participation in prayer (Psalm 139:23-24), Bible study (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and church membership (Ephesians 4:11-16), God is constantly straightening the crooked places of your life.
Seize the moment and invite God’s work to straighten that which is crooked in you. Cooperate with the Spirit to bring about His good pleasure in your life, which is your conformity to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). Pick one project today and get to work (Philippians 2:12-13).
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE: