Today's Devotion -- Amos 5:14, 21-23
14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts;
I cannot stand your assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps. (NIV)
taken from www.biblegateway.com
It had never really occurred to me that God may despise our attempts at worship! Now, I know I'm not a very good singer, but I don't think this passage talks about him cringing when I hit a wrong note (despite the fact that the folks sitting in front of me suffer).
This passage convicts me in a couple of ways. First, how often do I enter into worship without really preparing myself? On Sunday mornings it seems like we almost always rush out of the house at the last minute after dealing with boys who are frustrated by the need to change their clothes, lost keys, missed breakfasts, and running back into the house 2-3 times to get things that we have forgotten. By the time we get to our seats, I sometimes feel like I've put in a full day's work. At that point, the worship that I offer to the Lord is pretty weak and unexalting.
Second, I know that I haven't humbled myself or asked forgiveness for sins that have been committed but are unconfessed. I'm sure God looks at my feeble attempts to worship and wonders how I dare come to his throne dressed in the dirty rags of my sin.
He tells us that all we need to do is focus on doing good and he will be with us. Instead I focus on the easy, restful, and mindless things which may not be inherently evil but are definitely not the best choices I can make.
God doesn't expect us to be perfect, but he does expect us to pay attention. He wants us to make good choices that bring us closer to him, and he expects us to lay our selfishness, laziness, pride, and disobedience at his feet honestly before we attempt to worship him.
Today, take a second to note the choices that you make and consciously choose 'good'. And before going to worship tonight, take stock of your poor choices and present them to God in preparation to fully worship him. I'm sure he'll be tapping his feet along with the beat!
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