Morning Moments

Amos 8:5 (KJV)
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

GREED!

In our text we find the children of Israel with the same attitude as many today. They just didn't have time for worship. It had become a burden to them that hindered their work.

The context deals with the new moon festival which occurred once a month. It focused on the when the moon was "new" and not visible. Whereas pagans worshipped the moon, the Israelites were reminded of the God who created the moon. The farmers paid close attention to signs in the sky and they could tell when the moon was new.

God prescribed special offerings for this festival, more than those required for the weekly Sabbath. Burning offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings were required. A male goat was sacrificed to God and trumpet blasts were sounded as those offerings were given to help the people focus on God.

Some of us are old enough to remember church bells ringing in our neighborhoods on Sunday mornings. They were pleasant reminders of church services. Isn't it sad that we have become so greedy that we often only have time for a single hour a week for gathering with saints for worship? Churches are meeting less and less because we just don't have time to do all we wish to do and go to more than one service a week.

Does anyone remember the protracted meetings that would continue for weeks; when many attended services practically every night? We went from that to two week revivals, then one week revivals, then to one day revivals. This church "stuff" is just too much for us it seems. Regardless of the size of the church today, the "crowd" comes Sunday morning, less than half on Sunday night, and a handful on Wednesday night. We are building coffee shops and shopping centers and everything else into church plants today, but the problem for us is the same as the problem with Israel in Amos. We are too busy for "church" attendance so let's create some alternatives so that we might pursue our goals which do not include God.

There is a judgment day coming! I fear that it is coming sooner than we think. Maybe it is the only way to bring us back into focus - it was with Israel. SELAH!

BLESSINGS!