Monday, July 11, 2022

 

Monday, July 11, 2022


Psalms 28; 29

Amos 1.1-10

Galatians 5.1-15


For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.


Being a prophet in ancient Israel was no walk in the park. Amos came on to the scene during the time of unrivalled military and economic success for the region. Israel was rich; as was Damascus, Gaza, and Tyre. Like the good little pagans they were, they thought that being rich and powerful meant that God was rewarding them. But Amos, a dirt-poor shepherd from out the back of Burke, knew that wasn't how things worked. One crime pops up again and again: “cut off inhabitants... carried into exile entire communities... delivered entire communities”. These cities had gotten fat off slavery. And, as Paul will point out in Galatians, the slavers themselves were under an even worse kind of slavery: they were enslaved under the idea that God rewards us for doing good things. Since these cities had gotten so rich from doing such horrible things, those things couldn't be that horrible, could they?


If you want to be right with God, listen to Paul's wise words: “the only thing that counts is faith working through love”. Spiritual slavery is the idea that if we do good things, then we will be rewarded: by the universe, by the government, by our employer, by Almighty God. It is slavery because we are held under the “yoke” of having to do the right thing all the time, which is impossible! If we have stumbled even once, then that is it: there is no coming back. But because the only thing that matters is faith working through love, we only need to trust that Jesus has done all the good things that needed to be done. This is spiritual freedom: set free from the fear that we have not done enough. We have the freedom to serve one another from a place of love, rather than fear. We are like little children running around the playground, enjoying one another's company. God is watching us with loving eyes, a beaming smile on His glorious face, pleased with how His children care for each other, ready to run in and catch us if we slip, brush us down, and set us on our feet again with a warm embrace.




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