Do you remember that board game, The Game of Life? The game where you made your way around the twists and turns of the board, obtaining a career, spouse, children and wealth along the way? The game that led you to retirement where you could count up and enjoy the riches you had accumulated on the journey with the hope that you ended up with more than the other players? With this game in mind, let’s take a few minutes to look at the book of Amos.
In this book we find that the Israelites were living in a state of plenty, enjoying the wealth and prosperity their business endeavors had provided. Despite their wealth, the people continued to worship God in the temple, make the appropriate sacrifices and observe the Sabbath, and to an observer looking on from the outside, life looked good. God must have been pleased with His people and must have been showering them with blessings, right? Actually, no. That assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth.
God’s anger had been kindled against His people because they were taking advantage of the poor and foregoing justice. He says in Amos 5:11a, “You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them…” and in verses 21-22 He says, “I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.” To make it worse, His people asked themselves when the New Moon and Sabbath would be over so that they could continue selling grain by “boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales” (Amos 8:5). God ultimately told the people that they would go into exile as a result of their sinful actions.
How deluded the people were, thinking that they were pleasing God by going through the motions of religion while their hearts, in reality, were tragically far from the heart of their Father. And sadly, how dire the consequences.
With these verses in mind and the focus on the theme of The Game of Life, I encourage you to take some time to pause, be still, and ponder this thing called life. Ask yourself, “What is the purpose of life? Of my life? Am I living it in the best way? What role does God play in my life? What does He think of how I’m living? Am I following His rules for the game of life or those of the world?”
What do you think God would say is your purpose and mine? This is a big question that we could discuss at length, but I think we can find some answers from Micah 6:8:
“He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.”
What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear them in the comments below.
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