Good morning -
He probably would have been labeled "Least Likely To Have God Speak To". After all, doesn't it make sense that the Creator of all would use the most powerful and influential people to get His message out? Well, not exactly ...
"The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he envisioned in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." (Amost 1:1)
A lowly shepherd seems like an unlikely candidate to be the spokesman for God, but it wasn't without precedent. Remember David, the shepherd boy who killed mighty Goliath, the enemy of Israel, with a slingshot and rock?
God rarely, if ever, uses - to our way of thinking - the best P.R. tools and people to communicate His message. Instead of using the powerful and dramatic, He seems instead to prefer common people and subtle approaches. The force of His message certainly isn't seen in the methods and people He uses, but in the message itself. And therein lies the great secret.
From what we know of Jesus, He likely was not impressive in appearance (Isaiah 53:2). Contrary to legend, He probably did not have a commanding presence that distinguished Him from the crowd. And He had an annoying habit of communicating through simple little stories called parables that didn't seem to have enough substance to challenge the intellectuals. From all appearances he was a very ordinary and unimpressive individual - except for the amazing power and authority of the message that He communicated.
And so it was with Amos. A plain, ordinary man is distinguished from leaders and self-proclaimed prophets by the power and authority of his God-inspired message. And perhaps therein lies one of the great lessons to learn from Amos: how God displays His power and message through ordinary people.
Each of us are in a far better position to be used of God than the most powerful and influential people in the world. The record of the Bible indicates that, more often than not, God chooses people like us to communicate His Word. Perhaps the Apostle Paul summarized it best when he said,
"God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God." (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)
The fewer the "bragging rights" we have, the better the possibility of being an instrument of God. May God truly work and speak through us, not for our own fame and name, but for His glory. Amen.
Pastor Steve
He probably would have been labeled "Least Likely To Have God Speak To". After all, doesn't it make sense that the Creator of all would use the most powerful and influential people to get His message out? Well, not exactly ...
"The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he envisioned in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." (Amost 1:1)
A lowly shepherd seems like an unlikely candidate to be the spokesman for God, but it wasn't without precedent. Remember David, the shepherd boy who killed mighty Goliath, the enemy of Israel, with a slingshot and rock?
God rarely, if ever, uses - to our way of thinking - the best P.R. tools and people to communicate His message. Instead of using the powerful and dramatic, He seems instead to prefer common people and subtle approaches. The force of His message certainly isn't seen in the methods and people He uses, but in the message itself. And therein lies the great secret.
From what we know of Jesus, He likely was not impressive in appearance (Isaiah 53:2). Contrary to legend, He probably did not have a commanding presence that distinguished Him from the crowd. And He had an annoying habit of communicating through simple little stories called parables that didn't seem to have enough substance to challenge the intellectuals. From all appearances he was a very ordinary and unimpressive individual - except for the amazing power and authority of the message that He communicated.
And so it was with Amos. A plain, ordinary man is distinguished from leaders and self-proclaimed prophets by the power and authority of his God-inspired message. And perhaps therein lies one of the great lessons to learn from Amos: how God displays His power and message through ordinary people.
Each of us are in a far better position to be used of God than the most powerful and influential people in the world. The record of the Bible indicates that, more often than not, God chooses people like us to communicate His Word. Perhaps the Apostle Paul summarized it best when he said,
"God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God." (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)
The fewer the "bragging rights" we have, the better the possibility of being an instrument of God. May God truly work and speak through us, not for our own fame and name, but for His glory. Amen.
Pastor Steve
posted by steve @ 9:49 AM
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