Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
While we rightfully teach our children that we must not hate others, we also must teach them to loathe injustice, evil, prejudice, and the mistreatment of the vulnerable — the foreigner, widow, fatherless, and poor, as God defined them in the Torah. Amos reminded Israel that God demands justice to be administered fairly for both rich and poor, residents and foreigners, those in families as well as those left alone. Israel's repeated refusals of God's commands in these areas brought destruction upon their land despite their apparent affluence, military might, and political power in Amos' day.
My Prayer...
Holy God, I know you are furious at the injustice in so many lands and are enraged at the ethnic hatred setting our world ablaze. Please make your people, your Church, a place of justice, equity, compassion, love, racial healing, and hope. Please begin in my heart and with my hands to build this better world. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
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Other Devotionals from Heartlight for Thursday, April 12, 2007
"Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God: for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and..."
"[Jesus continued his teaching on our interactions with others, commanding,] "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others,....."
"[Stephen, in his defense before the council, emphasized how the Jewish ancestors had turned against Moses during their time in the Sinai wilderness:]...."
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