Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Planning”
Our Bible verse for today: “Israel, prepare to meet your God!” Amos 4:1:2 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Have you prepared yourself to meet God? Do you expect to meet Him?”
I’m guessing about this but I suspect that the Old Testament prophet Amos was a scary little dude. We don’t know much about him except that the Bible tells us he was a sheep breeder from Tekoa. So I’m thinking he was a hard-as-nails no nonsense guy who spent a lot of time in the wilderness with his sheep, he could live off the land, he could fight off predators and wild beasts, and generally he was not somebody to mess with.
Out of that life he was called by God to go preach a tough message of warning and judgment to a rebellious nation that didn’t want to hear it. That’s the context within which he spoke the words of Amos 4:12 “Israel, prepare to meet your God!” In other words, “God’s coming, He’s not happy, and you’re gonna get it!”
Those people needed to get ready for an encounter with God – and so do we. But I mean it in a different way than Amos did. I’m not talking about getting ready for a spiritual spanking from our Heavenly Father (although some of us probably deserve it and need it). Instead I’m talking about getting ready to meet Him in worship.
Today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday. When you go to church are you going there prepared to meet your God? Are you expecting to meet Him? Are you planning for it? It may seem like a silly question but I’m convinced that many people go to church, attend Sunday school, sit in the worship service, and then go home to their lunch of fried chicken and potato salad having never encountered God at all.
When we participate in worship services we have to go there planning to meet God in the act of worship. Our heart needs to be yearning to connect with Him. We must be seeking Him, singing to Him, and listening to teaching from His Word with the understanding that He is speaking to us through it. Not only should we go there wanting to encounter Him, we should go there expecting to encounter Him, and being satisfied with nothing less.
So let me ask you again, are you prepared to meet your God? In eternity yes, but more immediately in the act of worship? I encourage you to attend church tomorrow with the words of Amos ringing in your ears, “Prepare to meet your God!”
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 