Amos (it's a book in the bible)

I will be honest, I find it hard sometimes to find convicting and spiritually meaningful things in the Old Testament. In fact I had to look in the Table of Contents to keep from flipping all around the minor prophets to find Amos. I know there are things in there, and there are some really cool stories, but without a Bible scholar explaining it, sometimes it just doesn't make sense to me. I know that there are paralells we can draw on God's feelings on certain issues, and God's love for His people.

I was directed to Amos 6 in the comments section of one of Chris Dowdy's blogs. Which was really good. Madame kohlkoloz or something. Anyway, I talked yesterday about the laziness of many Americans, I neglected to include how lazy I was (most of you reading this know at times I can be a couch magnet), but let Amos 6:1-7 scare you a little bit.

"Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!

Go to Calneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their kingdom larger than yours?

You put off the evil day and bring near a reign of terror. You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on your musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end."

Admittedly the Old Testament sounds weird to me most of the time, but what this says to me is, Matt, you are too busy worrying about the unnecessary things that you have and the unnecessary things that you want to grieve for and reach out to those who are hurting and those who have nothing. So reach out to someone today. Pray for God's people in Southern Asia to reach out and comfort those who have lost their loved ones. Do something. Reflect God's glory in some way today.