Highlighting – “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (v.3)
The people of Israel in this text have become too comfortable in the blessings and luxury God gave them, that they began to sin against God – the same God that took them out of captivity. God is warning them through the prophet, of His coming wrath, because they took His favor and grace as a free pass to sin (Amos 6:1 – 7; I would really suggest you read the whole book – it’s short!).
At times, we too, are like Israel. We pray for God to bless us in an area, then He does, and we suddenly forget Him. We become so engulfed in indulging in our blessings, as if they’re the “be-all and end-all”, that we neglect the Source and Sustainer of our blessings. Please recognize that when we do this, the blessing becomes an idol – sin. Another example, we sin against God without realizing when we believe in our righteousness as a result of our own efforts and not grace given to us (by God) through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. What happens is, we believe due to self-righteous efforts that we are better than everyone else, which is sin rooted in pride.
God will show favor to those who are His and be in fellowship with us when we obey Him, but He will also punish us when we sin (Leviticus 26:23 – 24). “Judgement begins at the House of God”. God loves us too much to allow us to stray from the path He has set before us. Also, God desires that we obey Him and lead holy lives for the sake of those around us, who aren’t believers. If we don’t walk according to His Word, how do we expect those who are in the world to treat our God? They will take His grace lightly as well. Here we see that God’s Word will perform exactly what He says it will, unless the people change.
I highlighted verse 3 because our sin causes us to be in discord with God, therefore, we are no longer walking with Him (He’s trying to lead us in one direction, but we’re going in the opposite). If husband and wife disagree about a significant matter, what happens to the relationship? As Matthew Henry says, “No agreement, no fellowship.” This is exactly what happens to our relationship with God when we disobey Him. Our relationship is then restored when we repent and turn away from our sins. How can God lead you without your willingness to surrender completely to Him?
BUT what I love most about the way God deals with His children is that He shares His secrets with us (Psalm 25:14) and He warns us before He exercises His wrath against us (v.7). He is not a God that tries to catch us by surprise. How do you respond to God when He’s speaking to you?
Dear Father, help me to obey Your commands and not take advantage of Your grace. I love You very much and want to prove my love to You by obeying You. Help me to lead others to You and a better knowledge of who You are by how I represent You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!
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