Amos 3.8 observes, The Sovereign LORD has spoken— so who can refuse to proclaim his message?

The answer to Amos’ question seems to be most of the people of God. This was true in the day of Amos and it is true today as well. Why does this appear to be true?

As in Amos’ day, so few know the message of the Lord. This would not be true if the people of God were constantly declaring God’s message even as they lived that message. What is God’s message?

It is the message recorded in the Bible so that it can be verified by anyone and remembered by everyone. It is the message that God loves the world and has provided a person for helping us escape the consequences of our failure to love God and obey His commands.

God loves the world so has not abandoned the world. While evil in the world may cause us to think God has forgotten us the truth is it is people who have forgotten God who bring so much pain and suffering into the world. While we may want God to stop the thief, God wants the thief to stop and come to Him.

He gives all of us all of our lives to turn to Him, confess our disobedience and petition Him for pardon. He is gracious and longing to pardon us for our disobedience and begin building a relationship with us where we behave as sons and daughters of God and He engages us personally as our loving Father.

This message of relationship, of reconciliation is what God wills to be proclaimed from His people to the world. Failure to communicate this message leaves people helpless against their own disobedience and hopeless toward their future. People who are helpless and hopeless are not able to love God or love people well.

Those who have received this message should be both living and proclaiming this message. Living this message means living as children of God in all the joy, peace and love that relationship with God the Father entails. It is freedom from performance living to love and give with reckless abandon toward God and others.

Those who live this way attract others to God for it is how God lived among us as Jesus the Savior of the world.