The Business of Rebuilding
Daily Old Testament Reading: Amos 7-9
Daily Focus Passage: Amos 9
God is in the business of rebuilding and remodeling the lives of those who follow him. The prophet Amos declares the coming judgment of the Lord against the nations, including Israel, because of their wayward, sinful nature. Yet, in the declaration of coming destruction, rest the presence of hope as Amos proclaims that the Lord will rebuild his people. When we consider the dynamics of this prophecy, we find that the same truth exists today. The Lord continues to be in the business of rebuilding.
THE STATE OF RUIN
The people of Israel lived in a state of ruin because of sin. Sin promoted a culture seeking to please the self and striving to find hope because sin caused a hopeless existence. The presence of sin brought the punishment of destruction and brokenness. The nature of sin is destructive in one's life and puts one's life in ruin.
Like the people of Israel, we continue to experience brokenness and ruin because of the presence of sin. Sin puts us in a state of ruin and hopelessness. Sin causes a brokenness that we can never mend by our efforts. Thus, sin forces us to dwell on our plight and attempt to fix the situation ourselves. The state of ruin does nothing but lead us away from the Lord.
THE STATE OF REBUILDING
Amos told the people that the state of ruin would turn into a time of rebuilding and renewal. When repentance occurs, the Lord rebuilds lives through his grace and mercy. He rebuilds our lives in grace by offering us hope and reconstruction that we do not deserve, and in mercy, he withholds the destruction we deserve. The Lord alone is the one who rebuilds the destroyed life.
God continues to be in the rebuilding business. Through Christ, the Lord offers the needed entrance into restoring the broken. He works to reconstruct that which sin has plagued. The Lord takes our brokenness and bonds it back together. We must remember that Christ is the agent of Creation that is the agent of Recreation. At the same time, he is the one who holds all things together. Thus, he is a bonding agent used in the rebuilding process.
THE STATE OF RECOGNITION
The ability to move from the state of ruin to the state of being rebuilt by the Lord occurs when we come to the place of recognition that drives us to the moment of repentance and belief in the Lord. The state of recognition happens when we identify our brokenness and seek the Lord alone as the agent to rebuild our lives. The Lord constructs our lives from the here and now and for eternity. He alone recreates and makes us new because he alone is in the business of true recreation and reconstruction. Thus, we must understand that we exist in a state of ruin because of our sins, but God loves us so much that he offers to rebuild us if we recognize our condition and respond to him.
