Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Amos 5:14-15
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Okay, talk about a ridiculously over-complicated concept!
We should seek good, and *not* evil.
What?
Who knew?
But why we should we seek good and not evil, the key is in this verse:
“Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is”
Oookay, so apparently the reason God’s presence doesn’t abound in people’s lives is because people are seeking evil, and not good.
Classic mistake, easy to get confused right?
Um, no!
The Super Complicated Mystery of How To Welcome God Into Our Lives
Christians everywhere struggle to find God’s true presence in their hearts and lives, but this is a pretty clear set of instructions on how to welcome God: behave and he will be there!
Like, duh…
And no, this scripture doesn’t mean living right will lead to God appearing on a foggy piece of glass for ten minutes before going to show his likeness on a potato chip or tortilla, I mean the kind of presence where real miracles of emotional, spiritual, and physical healing take place.
God has always spoken to me in amazingly tangible ways when I have walked with him in love and respect; nothing in the world could ever replace the joy of these moments.
Just like we expect our spouse to not cheat on us, which I would hope is a given, we must also love God in a way that leaves no room for rivals.
Deuteronomy 6:5
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
So, back to the original point, to truly welcome God into our lives, we have to master the basic concept of “seeking good, not evil”, and “hating evil, loving good.”
Super complicated, I know.
The reason for this is because anything sinful is so contrary to God’s nature that he can’t stand it, and he does not go where he is not loved, unless it is to destroy stuff, Old Testament style.
John 14:23
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
One thing that is also true about God’s character is that just as sure as he shows up when things are good, he also shows up when things are bad!
Genesis 19:23-26
By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Also, don’t turn and look back when fleeing from sin and death; we are supposed to hate evil!
“And no, this scripture doesn’t mean living right will lead to God appearing on a foggy piece of glass for ten minutes before going to show his likeness on a potato chip or tortilla…”
It doesn’t?
Wait, what!
I laughed pretty hard. And learned a lot.
Hmm, that is not atypical with you.
Hello Amy. I know right, who knew! Your blog is great, I really enjoy it!