Amos 8:4-6
‘Hear this, you who trample the needy, to put an end to the humble of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain; And the Sabbath, so that we may open the wheat market, To make the ephah smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales, So as to buy the helpless for money, And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”’
When I read this I think of the cold side of business. Like Scrooge would have been in the Christmas Carol. This is so opposite of God’s heart. He cares for the lowly. Look at the Beatitudes, many of them have a mention of the lesser or one in need. These are in Matthew 5; verse three says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. These could be financially poor, but not necessarily. These are the ones who know their lives need God. Without Him, they are impoverished, even though they may be rich. Verse four says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”. I’m not real familiar with this one. I know they are hurting. Verse five says, “Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth”. These are aware of the hurting and don’t run roughshod over them, but are gentle with them. Verse seven says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy”. These have grown beyond self focus and know the importance of being merciful. To be merciful is to not seek revenge. We can do this when we’ve received mercy. We can never repay the debt He forgave us. Ours would have been an eternity in hell. We enter a relationship with God with a great imbalance that will never be made up. Verse nine says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” I’m not sure if these are those who don’t like conflict or want others to get along. We’ve appreciated those who brought peace to our controversies. Verse ten says, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” These have been the recipients of unfair treatment. I’ve also lost friendships when I sought to share Christ with them. God has specific beliefs that aren’t open to alternatives. As Christians we have to accept those. Many will reject us for having those stances.
These are six of the eight Beatitudes. That’s the overwhelming majority. God’s heart is to these and the lowly. We are to be Christlike. We are His sons and daughters. He has given us a new nature which has His heart. We want to do the things He wants us to do. All of those traits in the beatitudes are His heartbeat. He works those things into us as we grow in Him.
Philippians 2:12 says, “Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” God has changed our nature when we accept Christ. He sees us as perfect before Him. That’s because of the sacrifice of Christ. Yet on the outside we have much to do. He slowly takes that inward reality and works it out. This is called sanctification. This continues to the day we die. We may have acted like the people in today’s passage. Yet, He forgave us and molds us into those that act like Him.
This is much to be thankful for. We’ve been forgiven and adopted by God and He is busy with us making us better. I had no clue when I came to Christ. He wants to do this, He loves to do this. Thank You, Lord. We should be praising Him that He is reforming us.
Lord, thank You that You’ve saved us and made us perfect in Your sight. Help us to cooperate in the sanctification process. Thank You, for doing this.