Seek the Lord and Live: Amos 5:4-6
God wants us to seek Him and find Him, not create hollow rituals that look good on the outside. God tells Hosea, a contemporary to Amos, that He desires steadfast love rather than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6). God desires relationship with us, and that relationship begins in the heart.
Seek the Lord and live. It is simple advice. It rolls off the tongue, perhaps a little too easily. If we aren’t careful, the advice can become trite, almost like a platitude. Seeking the Lord and living is one of the most crucial elements to life, but the simplicity of the words can cause us to overlook its importance.
Some believe seeking the Lord involves a change of geography. Some people go to camps or retreats looking for a mountaintop experience with God. Others think heading to church, temple, or mosque makes all the difference. Others seek God in nature, thinking the animal sounds, smell of nature, and absence of traffic noise brings them closer to God.
God can be found in each of these places. There is nothing wrong with going to a building to hear from God. There is nothing wrong with communing with God in His creation. There is nothing wrong with attending a camp to draw close to God.
Yet, it is not geography that matters. A change of geography does not equate to a change in attitude of the heart. I don’t get closer to God simply because I go to a certain place.
I know there are people out there – I am even one of them – who argue that communing with God in nature is very productive, or going to your church helps a person feel closer to God. There is truth there, but it is not the location making God easier to reach. It is the attitude of the heart when going to a place that makes God easier to reach.
As an example, I commune with God easily when I go out to my woodshop. There, I am alone. I have plenty of time to think. I have time process life, talk to God, confess my sins, and think through my actions. My heart is open to doing those things. It is not the location that makes God accessible, but rather the openness of my heart when I go there.
This is why God tells the people, “Seek the Lord and live.” God doesn’t tell Amos to change their worship location from Gilgal to Jerusalem. It isn’t about where they go. It is about the condition of their heart when they go. The people go to the worship sites, perform rituals and make offerings demonstrating their greatness, and head home satisfied in their duty. Their hearts are not open to God as they go through the motions. God wants us to seek Him and find Him, not create hollow rituals that look good on the outside.
