September 27th - Reflection

Amos 6:8-14 (NRSV)
Justice turned into poison

The Lord God has sworn by himself
(says the Lord, the God of hosts):
I abhor the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds;
and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.

If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. And if a relative, one who burns the dead, shall take up the body to bring it out of the house, and shall say to someone in the innermost parts of the house, "Is anyone else with you?" the answer will come, "No." Then the relative shall say, "Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord."

See, the Lord commands,
and the great house shall be shattered to bits,
and the little house to pieces.
Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood--
you who rejoice in Lo-debar,
who say, "Have we not by our own strength
taken Karnaim for ourselves?"
Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation,
O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
to the Wadi Arabah.

Reflection
Don't think you don't need God in your life. We all need God. God created this universe and all that is in it. We are God's creation. We need God. God gave us wonderful talents to build walls, forts and buildings to protect ourselves with. God gave us talents to take care of ourselves and to defend ourselves from outside forces and influence. But the ability to do all of these things does not mean that we don't need God in our lives.

God is the only reason we have these abilities. Everything that we have was created and came from God. We need God. When we begin to believe that we can control events of this world through our own power and strength, without the hand of God involved, we need to be aware of our sinful and fallen nature. We are easily influenced into sinful action. Events involving many lives need prayer and direction from God. In our actions we must pray along the way, be willing to correct and take correction from God, and live out that event with constant conversation with God.

God wants to hear from you and me. God wants into our lives all day long. We need that relationship with God. We need that correction and that love that only God can provide. Don't be afraid of God's direction. It's the direction of mercy and love. Just look at what God has done for us through his Son! Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, when I think I can go it all alone, stop me and correct me and lead me back to you. Forgive my sinful pride and fill me with the Spirit of relationship with you and those you give to me day by day. --- Amen