The God Who Pursues
BRD REFLECTIONS:
Amos 6 and Psalms 106:1-23 (NIV)
(Adriel Loh, CGRC Chairperson)
READ
In Amos 6, the prophet Amos tells of an incident where all 10 men in a house die (v9). When the undertaker comes to pick up the bodies, and asks if there are any more dead, the relative of the dead men says “no”. But the undertaker cautions the relative not to speak too soon (v10), as if to imply that there will be more deaths to come. This is a shocking story, but when we read the earlier chapters of the book of Amos, we understand why. God is punishing His people for they have despised His laws, perpetuated injustice, and lived in immorality and idolatry (Amos 2:4-8). In Amos 4, God chastises His people multiple times, but each time, they do not return to Him (Amos 4:6-10). And so God brings destruction on them. Yet the book ends in hope. God will not utterly destroy His people. The time will come when He will rebuild His people, bring them back from captivity, and the mountains will once again drip with sweet wine (Amos 9:8-15).
In Psalm 106, we see a similar theme. The Psalmist praises God whose mercy endures forever (v1). He is a God who saves His people for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power known (v8). When His people forget Him (v13), lust exceedingly (v14), test Him (v14) and worship idols (v19), He punishes them. But each time, He hears their cries (v44) and relents because of His mercy (v45).
OBSERVE:
When we read Amos 6 together with Psalms 106, we get a glimpse into the heart of God. We see a God who pursues His people. Each time when His people forsake Him and fall into sin, He disciplines them for a time to get them to return to Him. Then when they cry to Him in their affliction, He hears their cry and restores them. We see the heart of a Father for His children. God loves us and is always merciful to us. He does not delight in disciplining us, but does so for our own good, so that we will return to Him. Hebrews 12:6 says, “the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
APPLY:
Reading Amos 6 and Psalms 106 reminds us that we need to take seriously what God is doing in our lives. He is a God who loves us and will always be merciful to us. But He is also a God who disciplines us when we persist in living in unrepentant sin. He does so for a time, for our good, that we may turn away from our sinful ways and return to Him. When we wander away from Him and into sin, He pursues us. Just as a father will never let his children go, God will never let us go. For His love for us is everlasting and nothing can separate us from His love for us.
DO:
Let us take time to consider if we have wandered away from God and turned to our own sinful ways. Let us consider if God is right now pursuing us and drawing us back to Him. If this is where we are in our lives, let us turn back to Him. Let us repent of our idols and our immorality. And let us come back to our Heavenly Father whose mercy endures forever and who will always receive us back into His loving arms.
PRAY:
Lord, I acknowledge that my heart is prone to wander, and that I have strayed away from You and Your commands. I repent of my sinful and rebellious ways, the idols I have placed above You, and the sins I have kept hidden from You. I acknowledge that you are calling me to come back to You today. For You have never left me and never will You forsake me. I return to You and Your loving embrace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
