Monday, November 2, 2026

         Amos 5:14 says, “Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is.”  Amos was an Old Testament prophet who spoke God’s Word to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  He was active almost 2800 years ago. Though he was a prophet centuries ago, his message remains fresh and important for us even to this day.  He gives us some powerful words to live by in 2026.  He offered two commands and two consequences that should be important to us.  Amos is part of God’s Word to us and, as such, should be held in high regard.  Amos’ first command is a positive command.  The command is to “seek good.”  We are to do good things and live in good ways.  We are to let goodness abound in our lives each day.  The word he used for good means that which is pleasant, agreeable and rich in integrity.  To do what is good means we consistently behave this way whether anyone is watching or not. His command is proactive. God calls his people to be good and to seek good ways and outcomes.  Do whatever is good is the command God gives through Amos.
            The second command is a negative one.  Amos directs us not to do something.  We are not to seek evil.  The reasoning should be fairly simple and self-evident.  There is enough evil in the world today.  We do not have to go looking for anything that is evil.  And we do not want to add to the evil that is in the world.  Also, to seek evil is to put us at odds with God.  Another way to speak of evil is sin.  When we sin, we are living defiantly and opposed to God and His good ways.  We are not to normalize sin or reduce the severity of sin through attempts to justify or rationalize what we have done.  Sin leads to death.  Our attempts to explain or justify our sins only make matters worse.  If we are seeking good, we should also be shunning evil and sin.
            The first consequence comes from seeking good and not seeking evil.  That first consequence is spelled out for us by Amos: “that you may live.”  Goodness is the road that leads to life.  Evil leads to death.  Think of the early pages of the Bible where Adam and Eve defied God and ate the forbidden fruit.  They paid with their lives.  They would one day face a somber death.  Even the ground itself was cursed.  The paradise that God had given them was corrupted by their fall and choice of evil.  If we seek what is good, then we will unmistakably seek Jesus.  For Jesus is the embodiment of goodness and righteousness. And Jesus is the One, the only One, who gives us new life and everlasting life. Disobedience and defiance toward God always lead to death.  Living in opposition to God’s Ways and Word never ends with life.  Such a posture ends with death.
            The second consequence is also a good one.  When we seek good, “the Lord God Almighty will be with” us.   We know that God abides with His people.  When we seek the Lord and walk with the Lord, we can be confident that He is with us.  When we show humility, mercy, grace and kindness to others, we know that God is with us and will honor such decisions.  It is a joy to know that God keeps watch over us as we sleep and guides us each day after we awake.  We cannot always control what happens around us but we can always control how we will respond to such things.  We always want our responses to reflect the grace and goodness of the Lord and for others to see His fingerprints and be filled with the sweet aroma of His goodness.  Amos 5:15 opens with a command similar to 5:14. Verse 15 says, “hate evil, love good.”  The prophet flipped the priorities as compared to verse 14 but the message remains the same.  Twice in two verses, Amos reminds us of the importance of seeking and loving what is good while running from and hating what is evil. Imagine the different outcome in the Garden of Eden if Adam and Eve had run from the serpent rather than listening to His deceptive and evil speech. 
            There are almost two months left in 2026.  Make it your goal to seek good in the remainder of the year.  Live for good things and look for good things.  It is easy to be cranky, ornery, argumentative or to want things your way.  But if you or I live that way then we have shrunk the world to just the little bit of space that we occupy.  God may be doing something new that could be a blessing to you and your family if you only saw it through the commitment to seeking what is good.  Compliment where you could have criticized. Pray when you could have complained.  Be humble when you don’t get your way.  Build someone up rather than muttering under your breath.  Seek what is good.  Have a great Monday!