Today's Devotional

October 12, 2005

Subject:  Ready To Build? 

Amos 9:9-10 - "For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.  All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us."

Amos 9:14 - "And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them."

Amos the prophet was declaring the judgment against the house of Israel as he talked about God sifting the people.  The sifting process, however, was not without purpose.  He was preparing the people for a great work of rebuilding a kingdom and He didn't want anybody playing around, so the first order of business was to get the sin out.  

That's how God prepares us for work.  He first has to get the sin out.  If perhaps, you are wondering why you aren't where you want to be or why God has not allowed you to do this thing or that thing, the problem could be the sin that we take for granted.  The sin that we won't give up is always the one that kills us; spiritually if not physically.  It's the one that we make excuses for and say, as the verse above says, "it will not overtake us or prevent us" but it always does.  It prevents us from being what God wants us to be and it will eventually be our downfall.  It will overtake us. 

Today, we need to be ready for the great work that God wants us to do and standby for the sifting.  If we can't stop the sin, God's got a way and He will indeed do it.  He's got cities to build and He doesn't have time to play around with unprepared laborers.  

Carlen