YOU CAN COME BACK

“Come back to me and live!” “Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live!” Amos 5:6a, 14a

     The prophet Amos was used by God to speak of coming judgment to the nation of Israel for their rebellious, sinful actions.  God’s love is so strong toward His children that warnings are always given in an effort to cause those who have rebelled to repent and return to Him.  This message is also appropriate for those believers who have had a misstep in their walk with the Lord. Perhaps you feel guilty or embarrassed by your words or actions.  Perhaps you have hurt someone in the process.  Maybe your life is far short of Christ’s example.  The one thing New Testament believers have over those from Old Testament times is the period of grace in which we now live.  You can return to the Lord no matter what you have done.  You are not defined by your past mistakes.  You are defined by whose you are.  Instead of living a marginal Christian life due to some ungodly indiscretion, come close to the Lord once again and become bathed in His forgiveness afresh and anew.

     For the Christian living is more than just physical, it’s spiritual as well.  You can live your entire life without God and only experience things in the natural.  If you embark on a spiritual journey on the day you repent and receive forgiveness, you are living in a totally separate realm.  Having access to that realm is up to you.  If you desire to know God even as you are known, you must embrace Him and not ever let go.  As a result, you will not only do good as a natural outcropping of that union, but will steer clear of all evil.  That’s really living; to shun evil and serve God.  Yes, you will stand out among the crowd.  But so did the prophets and apostles.  They had a message and a purpose.  What’s your purpose for living?

     The world is watching, even though it may appear that they’re not.  They seem to know what we are supposed to be doing even more than we do. We need to rely on the Lord to feed us spiritual sustenance and ignore those who would ridicule us in an effort to tear us down.  We all make mistakes.  There is a Heavenly Father who, like the Prodigal’s own father (Luke 15:11-32), is waiting with open arms to love you in spite of what you’d said or done.  There is forgiveness.  Once forgiven it will never be held against you ever again (Hebrews 8:12).  What a tremendous blessing to know there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Note:  The translation used is the NEW LIVING TRANSLATION; Publisher:  Tyndale House.

* Amos was a shepherd from the town of Tekoa in Judah.  He is considered to be one of the “minor” prophets.

NOTE: The terms Major Prophets and Minor Prophets are simply a way to divide the Old Testament prophetic books. The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The Minor Prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The Minor Prophets are also sometimes called The Twelve.

     The Major Prophets are described as “major” because their books are longer and the content has broad, even global implications. The Minor Prophets are described as “minor” because their books are shorter (although Hosea and Zechariah are almost as long as Daniel) and the content is more narrowly focused. That does not mean the Minor Prophets are any less inspired than the Major Prophets. It is simply a matter of God choosing to reveal more to the Major Prophets than He did to the Minor Prophets.