The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 17 January 2022 – Learn To Put The Needs Of Others Before Yours
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TOPIC: Learn To Put The Needs Of Others Before Yours
READ: Amos 6 (NKJV)
- Woe to you [who are] at ease in Zion, And trust in Mount Samaria, Notable persons in the chief nation, To whom the house of Israel comes!
- Go over to Calneh and see; And from there go to Hamath the great; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. [Are you] better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory?
- [Woe to] you who put far off the day of doom, Who cause the seat of violence to come near;
- Who lie on beds of ivory, Stretch out on your couches, Eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall;
- Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, [And] invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;
- Who drink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
- Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
- The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, The LORD God of hosts says: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up [the] city And all that is in it.”
- Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.
- And when a relative [of the dead,] with one who will burn [the bodies,] picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “[Are there] any more with you?” Then someone will say, “None.” And he will say, “Hold your tongue! For we dare not mention the name of the LORD.”
- For behold, the LORD gives a command: He will break the great house into bits, And the little house into pieces.
- Do horses run on rocks? Does [one] plow [there] with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into gall, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
- You who rejoice over Lo Debar, Who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves By our own strength?”
- “But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” Says the LORD God of hosts; “And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath To the Valley of the Arabah.”
THE MESSAGE:
Great cities to the east, north, and west have been destroyed because of pride and selfishness. What happened to them would happen to Israel because Israel’s sin was just as great as theirs. Prophet Amos targets the elite of the capitals of both Judah (Zion, Jerusalem) and Israel (Mount Samaria). Thus, Calneh and Hamath were prosperous cities of Syria, captured by the Assyrians in 738 BC. Amos directed his attack at those living in complacency and luxury in both Israel and Judah.
Great wealth and comfortable lifestyles may make people think they are secure, but God is not pleased if we isolate ourselves from others’ needs. God wants us to care for others as He cares for us. His Kingdom has no place for selfishness or indifference. We must learn to put the needs of others before our wants. Using our wealth to help others is one way to guard against pride and complacency. The people had built luxurious homes to flaunt their achievements but while it is not wrong to live in comfortable houses, we must not let them become sources of inflated pride and self-glorification. God gave our homes to us, and they are to be used for service, not just for show.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, please, give me grace to learn to put the needs of others before mine. Amen.
