Good for Nothing

My dad taught the young adult Sunday school class at our church when I was a teen.  He challenged those in the class to know why they were being good.  He would say that if they didn’t know why they were being good, they were being "good for nothing.”

Well, if we love the Lord we will want to obey Him and to be good for the sake of Jesus.  In I Peter 4: 13-16 it says “13Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."

Now, how is it that we are to be holy?  What would this look like? We are studying Amos this year in Precepts Bible study.  Today our lesson was on chapters two to five. In Amos 3: 4 it says “Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl from his den unless he has captured something?” Meaning that there is cause and effect.  All have sinned and God will judge.  So to be holy we must know what God says to us in the Bible and obey.

I never thought about this before, but judgment by God will begin with the family of God—I Peter 4: “17 for it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”   God disciplines those He loves but He will destroy those who do not obey Him.  I pray that we will love others enough to tell them about Jesus, His love, and His glory!

In Amos God has told us that He will destroy those who have forgotten Him –those who have gone their own way.  Kay Arthur referred to what Winston Churchill said during World War II--,“I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion’s roar.”  Here he is referring to the God of the Bible.  God is the lion.   Amos tells us He has roared against those who do not obey.

So we must keep praying and seeking God and telling others that there is a way out from under the judgment of God.  We must live a holy life and set the example by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit for others to follow.