"SEEK ME AND LIVE"

"This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: 'Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gigal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing. Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire; it will devour, and Bethel will have none to quench it.'" Amos (5: 4-6) Amos speaks God's word to them to seek the Lord, and by this God was telling the people that the worship they offered at Bethel and the other places was not offered to God, and was not seeking him, and was offensive to him. The gracious word from God by Amos is plain and straight forward. It is "Seek me and live." And once again, repeated in v.6 "Seek The Lord and live." Amos paints a picture of the fire of God's judgment sweeping away Bethel, and Gilgal. In other words the fire of God's judgment will sweep through the places where the worship of God is false, and bring them to nothing. Such judgment, we are told here by Amos, is one that human power cannot quench. It will devour Bethel. Amos mentions the House of Joseph, and so it is clear that the words are not spoken to the world at large but to the church.The question is what is meant by seeking the Lord? Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. What does this mean? It means listening carefully, diligently, truthfully, earnestly to God's word in the Bible, and not just parts of the Bible, but the whole of it, accepting the whole as the infallible and true revelation given by God. If we are not prepared to do this, and instead trust our own wisdom to pick and choose what we will accept or reject, then we have ceased to truly seek the Lord. Then giving ear to the Lord means that we must seek by the Holy Spirit to understand the plain and obvious meaning of the word of God we are reading and studying. Because the Bible is God's revealed message to us, we must listen carefully to it to understand it.Then in the giving our ear to the Lord, Isaiah goes on to add the words... "incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live: (Isa. 55:3). This is God saying 'Hear me!' We only hear God as we give ear to his word when we are prepared to receive his word and obey his authority, and are prepared to commit our lives to the word in obedience and faith. There is no other way but to seek The Lord. God wants you to discover Him... perceive Him... see Him... and experience Him... through relationship with Him. He wants you to know that you can trust Him. His character is love, kindness, mercy, faithfulness; He only does what is right and just. "Seek The Lord and Live!" Kingdom Blessings!