JUDGMENT

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. Amos 8:1

This may be perhaps the most important devotional I may ever write. Lord, help me to convey it for Your glory and our blessing. While many commentators, viz., Gill, Keil & Delitzsch, MacArthur, etc. present Israel’s being ripe for destruction just as the fruit was ripe in the basket and ready to rot or be consumed, they sadly miss the more horrifying judgment already taking place. I don’t blame them. I only discovered it a few years ago. You see, the corruptions of fallen man cause us to have a skewed view of the holy reality unless God’s grace illuminates a more blessed view to us. We tend to see or emphasize judgment in its final result or application, viz., its eternal destruction or its ultimate punishment. We miss the more severe judgment, such as what Jesus told Nicodemus, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). The people of Israel had every reminder of trusting in the Lord and His Christ with every new moon occurring each month and every Sabbath command each week, yet they couldn’t wait until the Sabbath or new moon was over so they could conduct business, deceive others, and make a profit (Amos 8:5). They not only didn’t care a whit or whistle for God during their feasts, Sabbaths, or gatherings, they couldn’t wait for that day to be over so they could do something else. God’s judgment was already secured in the depths of their wicked hearts. Herein, the Lord was still merciful to them, sending them prophets like Amos to warn them. But one day, says the Lord GOD, “the days are coming when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11). Many in America have already forsaken Christ’s will and His way. It won’t be long before we will hunger for His Word and the shelves of heaven will be empty because we have sold out.

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Today's M'Cheyne Reading Schedule: 11/19 - 1Chr 13-14; Jas 1; Amos 8; Luke 3

If you don’t have one, get a free PDF copy of Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s “Daily Bread” Bible Reading Calendar by Clicking Here.

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