The Lion Has Roared

Daily Reading: Amos 3

For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.  The lion has roared; who will not fear?  The Lord has spoken; who can but prophesy? (Amos 3.7-8)

Devotional Thought: Recently, I was sitting with a friend in a surgery waiting area.  As we talked, the fire alarm sounded.  Several hospital employees happened to be walking by at the time, and I said - loud enough to be heard - "I guess we're OK.  Nobody else seems to be panicking!"  The medical staff just laughed and said, "Yes, it's just a test."  I thought to myself, "That might have been a good piece of information to make available before you tested the system." But what really impressed me was the fact that nobody had seemed concerned about the alarm.  Not even me.

Have you ever chosen to ignore an alarm? 

If you answered no, I would have my doubts.  It is human nature to think that warnings are either 1) for somebody else or 2) not really serious.  The people in Amos' day had heard the warnings of the prophets, but had thought, "That doesn't apply to me."  God was amazed, likening their response - or lack thereof - to ignoring a lion's roar.  You just wouldn't do that.  God said, in essence, "I've given you warnings through my prophets.  Why haven't you believed them?"  Today, we can liken the Word of God to the prophets of old.  God warns us through his Word.  Why haven't we believed it?

We can generalize that question to American society, popular culture, or cold churches, and thereby ignore the warning.  "This doesn't apply to me."

Are there words of warning that you have ignored?  Is there some uncomfortable truth in the Bible that you don't want to think about?  God has revealed his secrets through his Word.  The lion has roared.  Are you listening?

Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your truth revealed in your Word, by your Holy Spirit, and through the voice of my conscience.  Help me to listen and to respond to what you're saying to me.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 99.1-9

1  The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 2 The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! 4 The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he! 6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the Lord, and he answered them. 7 In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them. 8 O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 9 Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy!