Love Good and Establish Justice

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Amos 5:8-15

The Message

Raw Truth Is Never Popular

 ^7-9 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar
   and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You're in a cosmos
   star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
   and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
   and gives the land a drink.
   God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
   He can turn this vast wonder into total waste. ^10-12People hate this kind of talk.
   Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
   Because you run roughshod over the poor
   and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You're never going to move into
   the luxury homes you have built.
You're never going to drink wine
   from the expensive vineyards you've planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
   the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
   taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they're down.
 ¹³Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
   Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
   a waste of breath.
 ¹⁴Seek good and not evil—
   and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
   and maybe it will happen.
 ¹⁵Hate evil and love good,
   then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   will notice your remnant and be gracious.

For Reflection

Those who do not speak out, those who do not act, and those who turn a blind eye to injustice are as sinful as those who practice injustice.  let your God guide your participation in His justice.

Pray

that you will pray frequently.  Pray that you will listen to God's wisdom.  Pray that you will rise to the opportunities to influence justice.