Readings for today: Amos 6-9
God can use anyone. From any background or life experience. From any nation, clan, tribe, or family. No matter how young or old. No matter how rich or poor. From every level of education. No matter your caste or social status. God can use you. All he requires is a ready and willing heart. A humble spirit. Open hands. This is what marked Amos. He was not a priest. He didn’t come from a line of prophets. He was not part of the royal family. He was a simple man. A working man. A man accustomed to hard labor. He was a herdsman. A harvester of figs. Listen to how he describes himself to the powerful people in the northern kingdom of Israel. “I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” (Amos 7:14-15 CSB)
The Lord took him from the flock and made him a prophet. It’s a great reminder that God doesn’t so much call the qualified as He qualifies the called. At the heart of the prophetic task was the ability to hear and obey God’s voice. To respond to the will of the Holy Spirit. The courage to speak God’s truth to power. The endurance to persevere no matter what the cost. Amos was all of this and more and he stands in a long of line of unlikely people whom God used to call His people back to repentance. Back to faith. Back to the covenant. Amos speaks specifically to the injustices of his day. He sees the wealth gap between rich and poor. He sees how the poor and powerless were being exploited by the rich and powerful. He sees all the idolatry. He sees all the oppression and injustice. And he sees visions of God’s righteous judgment. Like most prophets, he also sees a time when Israel will return to the Lord so he offers a note of hope. He sees a time when God will again show His people mercy and restore their fortunes. “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce. I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. The Lord your God has spoken.” (Amos 9:14-15 CSB)
Again, God can use anyone. I remember when God first called me. I was a failed college student with little to no qualifications and nothing to suggest I would make anything of my life. However, I was desperate enough to say “yes” and Jesus has taken me on an adventure greater than any I could have planned or imagined. What about you? Where do you find yourself today? Are you willing to say “yes” to the Lord like Amos and so many others who have gone before you? What’s holding you back? What’s stopping you? What’s keeping you from living out God’s call on your life? Remember, God qualifies those whom He calls. All He needs is a willing heart and a humble spirit and open hands.
Readings for tomorrow: Hosea 1-5