What do I seek?

For the Lord says to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live!

Amos 5:4

What do I seek? What do I pursue? What motivates me to take disciplined and focused action? These are questions that define us. Sometimes we cast these questions aside and sometimes we wrestle with them. Whether we take the time or not to wrestle, the answers define our lives. During the days of Amos the prophet, the people of Israel had developed some bad habits. These habits affected their worship, their relationships with others and their identity as a nation. Amos, a shepherd, was chosen by God to deliver a strong message to the people. In Amos 4, he describes how God had attempted to gain their attention. Sadly, the result of those efforts was a stubborn refusal to return to God. I think we experience some of the same types of opportunities to return to God. We may react to our circumstance with anger or frustration or simply dismiss our state of affairs as just another example of “the way things are”. I believe that’s a mistake. In the context of Amos, the situation was dire and God spoke in direct terms. The message to Israel was “Seek Me and live”. What grabs my attention in Amos 5:4 is the offer of God. The reward God offers is life. Life is offered, not simply in contrast to death, but as something that cannot be gained elsewhere. Israel was guilty of seeking after many substitutes for the life that God offers. So are we. We convince ourselves that we can make life apart from God. In the midst of our busy lives, it has become so easy to forget that God is the source of life. This week, I will think about this. Perhaps many of my circumstances are subtle and not so subtle reminders of the need to seek God and receive life from Him. In God we find life. Not only will God provide direction, but He will breath life into my pursuits, motivations and relationships.