December 2, 2021 - Advent Week 1

 


Franz von Defregger, Grace, 1874

 


Amos 4:13   “He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth – the Lord God Almighty is his name.”

           

When I was a child I prayed, “God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.” As a child praying at the supper table I did not know the importance that the words would have as I grew up. God would reveal his greatness to me, slowly over time, in a million different ways. He would touch my heart and life with his goodness over and over again, and by his mercy his greatness and goodness would change me.

 

In the Old Testament book of Amos God desperately wants his people, the nation of Israel, to return to him, to change. The prophet Amos, a shepherd and fig tree farmer, wrote during the reign of King Jeroboam II, one of the worst kings to rule Israel. Israel and its leaders were apathetic, worshipped idols, neglected the poor, and were not concerned about the lack of godly justice in the land. Amos 4:6-13 repeats the phrase, “yet you have not returned to me”, declares the Lord”, five times. In spite of the consequences they experienced for their disobedience, Israel did not return to God. They forgot the wonders of miracles like parting the Red Sea and manna from heaven that displayed God’s greatness. They forgot how in his goodness he spoke and revealed his thoughts to man. Their hearts no longer belonged to him.

 

I have seen my heart on the pages of the Old Testament, in the people of Israel. I have disobeyed God, been proud and stubborn, been cynical, jaded, and have not loved easily or unconditionally. Yet God loves me! He calls me back and reminds me of his greatness in the mountains and the wind. He calls me back and reminds me of his goodness by revealing his thoughts through Holy Scripture. He takes the words of a childhood prayer and uses them to teach me a profound truth. It is with humility that we approach God’s throne on bended knee and with bowed head. But, it is also with confidence that we come because of his goodness. The Lord God Almighty is his name, and he loves us!

 

- Linda Bateman

 

 


 

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