Amos | Amos 6 | John Baker

To what lengths will you go to maintain your comfort and security? What comforts or securities are you placing your faith in to sustain you over Jesus? God's issue with Israel in Amos 6 is their spiritual complacency, social injustice, and reliance on material wealth. The Israelites' pride leads them to believe that they are superior to others and that they do not need God... and their envy leads them to exploit the poor and to disregard the needs of those less fortunate than themselves. The answer to pride and envy in life is awe of God! "Awe is the capacity to bow in the presence of something or someone more glorious than ourselves. It is the proper posture of a creature before both the Creator and the Creator's greatness." - Dan Allender One of the challenges Christians in North America face is that we have not only lost our awe of God, but we have learned how to live without God. Why? Because we have become so comfortable. You will not escape the tension of life this side of heaven. So long as you are a sinner saved by grace, living in this world, your life will be immersed in tension. You cannot escape the tension and you will drive yourself to emptiness trying to. God meets us in the tension, puts his hand under our chin that is in our chest (looking at all the surrounding circumstances and problems of life), lifts our head and eyes to see Him smiling at us, and embraces us with the gentlest and yet most powerful “I love you” we could ever experience. And awe bursts forth from our weary souls. Our souls that are weary from chasing ease, security, and comfort in this world only to find that the security, ease, and comfort we needed was in this beautiful embrace with the God of the Universe all along. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” - Psalm 37:4