Old Testament: Amos 7-9
Poetry: Psalm 74
New Testament: Luke 14:1-14
“This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.” Amos 7:7-8
Three summers ago, I took on the task of building 300 or so feet of fence in my backyard to enclose the wandering space of two quickening toddlers. I am far from a carpenter by trade, so in every way, it took me significantly more time to get the job done; however, I was committed to doing it right, building something that had some staying value. It was my Great Wall. After doing some YouTube research, I knew even the smallest deviation, a single degree to the left or right on a plane, could have pretty severe consequences. If you can’t imagine the measurements of fence posts, an example more relevant might be one drawn from James Clear in Atomic Habits. He asks his reader to imagine an airplane taking off from California destined for New York. Just after takeoff, the heading is adjusted by the smallest degree shift. This unnoticeable change, if never corrected, will have you arriving in Florida, not New York, roughly 1000 miles away from your destination.
Whether it is posts or planes, we can see that God is using a measure for Israel and us, that is making sure that we are vertically aligned with Him. Amos alludes to the scattering of Israel and a final judgment at the return of Jesus. Unchecked cultural allowances passed from generation to generation compound their effect and become paradigm shifts. While Israel was at the height of its economic and political power, seemingly built on a great foundation of previous generations, small allowances and leanings away from God, moves Israel away from God’s chosen, eventually leading to their conquered and scattered status in the 1st century.
Additionally, at the beginning of Luke 14, Jesus reminds us of the measure we should use. The Pharisees took great pride in regularly measuring themselves to a standard. Unfortunately, the rules they followed were often legalistic, self-imposed, and focused solely on their status with one another. Taking seats of honor, refusing to help on the Sabbath, and blessing only those who can repay you are incorrect measures that can skew the outcome of your vertical alignment more quickly than one or two poles being out of line. Jesus gave them the measure, “but when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” Alignment with God means blessing those who cannot return the favor. Simply put, this is the Father’s love shown through Jesus Christ paying a debt we could never repay.
So how do we combat these leanings that will make our defenses weak? First, we are encouraged to regularly check our progress or face being cut out of the plan of God. Here’s a quick check-in: the average American takes in 100,000 words a day through conversation and content. Reading a Bible study like this is 2,000 of those, solely if you stick to the plan and stay away from devotional. Over the course of a year, not reading a daily Bible plan misaligns you by 800,000 words, roughly 8 full days within a year without God’s presence. This is only a single, simple action, which does meet the requirements of the plumb line alone in isolation. Giving up a hundred words here and there may seem harmless, but they add up, and could place us far from our destination in a matter of months.
Start today with something small to plumb. Pray for patience over your first cup of coffee. Offer a line or two of a worship chorus when you hear the rain. Thank God aloud whenever you arrive home safely. If we check in with this single task daily, how much more aligned would our life be to Christ’s in a few months? We cannot spare any more time without God’s presence beckoning the standard in Christ and shoring up our shortcomings. Daily measure against God’s standard and build your life with eternal value.
Reflection Questions
- What steps do you want to take to be well aligned with God? What practices and habits do you need to remove and replace because they are pulling you away from proper alignment?
- How does being just a few degrees off over time take you where you do not want to go?
- What does God’s standard look like? How can we follow it more closely?
Seek Grow Love 