The Judgement of the Lord is not something that we have any ability to escape. Our pride and our self-indulgence tells us that we can do what we want and get away with it. The reality is that it will always catch up to us. We even have this mentality that God should not punish us. Thankfully the ultimate judgement and punishment for sin was taken on by Jesus, however that does not mean that we do not have consequences for sin.
In reading this chapter you have seen that Judah and Israel have really messed up and are continuing to mess up. A lot has happened up to this point in the history of the Israelites, and the promise God made to Abraham seems far from being a reality. So the Israelites seem to just continue to mess up.
It seems like God would give them a break since they had been through so much; however that is not at all what God does. God says through his servant Amos many times, “I will not revoke the punishment.” The sin and transgressions deserve consequence.
You see what happens is when we sin and have to deal with the consequences, we want to say that God is mean, or God is unfair. This is so far from true, because God is just. God and sin do not mix. This is why he looked away from His son Jesus when He became sin.
Because we don’t want to accept, deal with, or own up to our sin and the consequences of it we tend to try to run. Verses 14-16 describe very clearly that we cannot get away from the consequences of sin. So why try? Why not go before our Holy God and confess and repent today. There still may be consequences to deal with, but you will be dealing with them in the right way, with God. I like to call it taking the right next step. Others say falling forward, or making the best of a bad situation.
None of us are perfect and free from sin and failure in our life. So with that knowledge and the understanding of the justice of God, what is your next right step? Will you fall forward into your Heavenly Father today?
By: Dakota Gragg — Student Ministry Associate
JumpstartCPC.com 