Through the Bible in 2021
Bible Readings: Amos 7, 1 John 4, Psalm 139:6–12, Proverbs 30:7–9
Daily Devotional: God's Plumb Line
Is your life what God meant it to be? Are you living the life Jesus died so that you could live?
Amos 7 is a series of three visions that God gives to the prophet. The first, in verses 1-3, is a vision of a plague of locusts descending on Israel and picking the land clean. For an agricultural society, one where most people lived off the crops they could grow in their own fields, such an invasion was disastrous. Amos called out in horror to God that Israel could not survive such a plague, and God relented and did not send it.
A second vision came in verses 4-6, this time of a massive fire that would sweep through the land. If there was anything more disastrous than locust it was fire. Locust would eat the crops, but fire would destroy crops, houses, barns, and even kill people. Again Amos called out to God for mercy, fearing that Israel would not survive such a plague, and again God relented and did not send the fire.
But then God brought Amos into his confidence and explained himself in a third vision. This time, Amos saw the Lord standing with a plumb line in his hand, standing next to a wall that was built to be vertical. It was no longer so. It leaned. God was revealing to Amos why he was threatening Israel with locusts and fire. It was not out of cruelty, but because of their sin against his holiness. In verses 8 and 9, God says,
But we ought never to believe that the grace of God absolves us from the responsibility to stand straight or that the Holy Spirit will not hold the plumb line of God's holiness up to our hearts and lives. There are consequences when we sin, even as redeemed, forgiven sinners. If we lean away from the righteous standards of God in our daily lives, God's discipline will fall upon us. He will correct us as a father corrects his children - and that correction may be painful. Out of love and appreciation to the Father who loved us and the Savior who bought us, we ought to walk in holiness daily.
These two truths are a constant balance in our lives - the grace of God and the call to holiness (as we saw in our recent reading in 1 John 2). God saves you completely and lavishes his grace on you. Hallelujah! Amen! But he also, by the Spirit, holds the plumb line of holiness against your life and demands that you walk in obedience.
Amos 7 is a series of three visions that God gives to the prophet. The first, in verses 1-3, is a vision of a plague of locusts descending on Israel and picking the land clean. For an agricultural society, one where most people lived off the crops they could grow in their own fields, such an invasion was disastrous. Amos called out in horror to God that Israel could not survive such a plague, and God relented and did not send it.
A second vision came in verses 4-6, this time of a massive fire that would sweep through the land. If there was anything more disastrous than locust it was fire. Locust would eat the crops, but fire would destroy crops, houses, barns, and even kill people. Again Amos called out to God for mercy, fearing that Israel would not survive such a plague, and again God relented and did not send the fire.
But then God brought Amos into his confidence and explained himself in a third vision. This time, Amos saw the Lord standing with a plumb line in his hand, standing next to a wall that was built to be vertical. It was no longer so. It leaned. God was revealing to Amos why he was threatening Israel with locusts and fire. It was not out of cruelty, but because of their sin against his holiness. In verses 8 and 9, God says,
“I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel;I will no longer spare them:
Isaac’s high places will be deserted,
and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins;
I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.”
But we ought never to believe that the grace of God absolves us from the responsibility to stand straight or that the Holy Spirit will not hold the plumb line of God's holiness up to our hearts and lives. There are consequences when we sin, even as redeemed, forgiven sinners. If we lean away from the righteous standards of God in our daily lives, God's discipline will fall upon us. He will correct us as a father corrects his children - and that correction may be painful. Out of love and appreciation to the Father who loved us and the Savior who bought us, we ought to walk in holiness daily.
These two truths are a constant balance in our lives - the grace of God and the call to holiness (as we saw in our recent reading in 1 John 2). God saves you completely and lavishes his grace on you. Hallelujah! Amen! But he also, by the Spirit, holds the plumb line of holiness against your life and demands that you walk in obedience.
Father, I thank you for you love and grace, but I also thank you for your discipline that drives me back to you when I stray, when I lean to one side or the other. Set me straight!
Consider God's Word:
Which of the readings spoke most powerfully to you today?
Is the Spirit of God moving you to repent of something you are doing, to begin something new, or to change something about your life as a result of your readings? What?
Is the Spirit of God moving you to repent of something you are doing, to begin something new, or to change something about your life as a result of your readings? What?
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