“Listen to me you fat cows…”

It certainly wasn’t the pick me up I had in mind for my morning devotional, but it‘s where my Old Testament Bible reading plan took me.  Those seemingly insensitive words came out of the mouth of the Old Testament prophet Amos…but originated from the heart of God.

Ouch! What was God so upset about?

Injustice. The poor were being mistreated (again) and God wasn’t having it (again)!

It was during a time when the king of the land silenced the mouths of the ‘real professional prophets.’ So, God asked Amos to be His spokesman.   Amos 7:14,15 But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. But the LORD called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’

Being a spokesman for God has never been easy. Isaiah preached naked, Ezekiel cooked his food over cow dung and Amos…well, he had to say some hard things to the people around him. Nevertheless, all three obeyed God.

Let’s fast forward to today. That same God has called us to be His messengers… thankfully, times have changed and God isn’t asking us to go around calling people ‘fat cows.’ But He is asking us to be bold and to understand our God given authority.  In Matthew 10:16, Jesus states, ‘Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be WISE as serpents and HARMLESS as doves.” In other words, SPEAK MY MESSAGE…with wisdom, discernment, kindness and gentleness.

Amos might have started off harsh, but in the end, God speaks a beautiful message through him and offers a sweet promise of future restoration. “I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.”  Amos 9:14

Like Amos, we may not be ‘professional prophets,’ but we are still called to be God’s messengers. To say hard things, to speak His truth and to show His love.

-Binu