By Gina Caswell Kelly
The scripture I used this morning for my daily scripture text was Amos 5:14-15. In this, Amos writes, “Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.” There are some good lessons for us in these verses.
Obviously, seek good and not evil! This is just so basic, but still seems so hard for us to follow through on. Why is it that it is so hard for us to seek good? It seems we are naturally drawn toward evil. Now you may be thinking that nothing you do is evil. The truth is, that if it isn’t good, then it is evil in the eyes of God. We have to seek after what is good. We have to chase the good and be that good in the world. Oh this world so desperately needs to see good happening more often. Our daily news is filled with evil, it seems. As Christians, we are called to be the good. We are called to be the light. We are called to be the salt this world needs. How are you doing chasing after good?
It is pretty easy to fall into the evil trap. It is easy to spread a little gossip. It is easy to ignore the needs in our world. It is easy to just close your eyes to the lives around us. Seeking after good requires effort on our part. Making a difference in this world requires action. It requires intentional thinking. It requires you to have a mindset that wants what God wants in this world.
The second part of that verse says, “Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is.” We like to say that we follow God, but do our actions show it? We are pretty content sometimes just checking that box that says you went to church on Sunday morning, and then walking away from it. I tell my Sunday school class that I want to teach on Sunday things that they can live on Monday. We have to be committed to following God and listening to His Word, and gathering with His people.
I was talking to a young lady this week who has lived in this town for quite sometime. I have been inviting her to church. She said that in all the time she has lived here, I was the first person to invite her to church. Oh this is not who we are supposed to be! If we want to say we are God’s people, then we must be committed to acting like we are God’s people.
We must soak up God’s Word and His voice so much so that it just naturally shows in all we do. I want to be so saturated with God and what He wants for my life that I live a big old God spot everywhere I go! I am not there yet, but I surely do want to be!
Chase after what is good this week! It will make difference!
