Moderator
Staff Member
19 September 2007
Amos 8 v 4-10
Listen to me, you who walk on helpless people, you who are trying to destroy the poor people of this country, saying, "When will the New Moon festival be over so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath be over so we can bring out wheat to sell? We can charge them more and give them less, and we can change the scales to cheat the people.
We will buy poor people for silver, and needy people for the price of a pair of sandals. We will even sell the wheat that was swept up from the floor."
The LORD has sworn by his name, the Pride of Jacob, "I will never forget everything that these people did.
The whole land will shake because of it, and everyone who lives in the land will cry for those who died.
The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be shaken, and then it will fall like the Nile River in Egypt."
The Lord GOD says: "At that time I will cause the sun to go down at noon and make the earth dark on a bright day.
I will change your festivals into days of crying for the dead, and all your songs will become songs of sadness.
I will make all of you wear rough cloth to show your sadness; I will make you shave your heads as well.
I will make it like a time of crying for the death of an only son, and its end like the end of an awful day."
When I was growing up shops did not open on a Sunday. Where I grew up the newspaper shop would open for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning so people could collect their Sunday paper (it was never delivered on a Sunday!) There was however one shop that was an exception. The corner shop would open between 11.30am and 3pm. For as long as I can remember we never went in on a Sunday. That was until my Mum had no stuffing for the chicken. Off she ran to the shop and proudly came back to continue cooking lunch.
I remember Sunday trading being debated - people everywhere with an opinion, Christians saying they would never go into a supermarket on a Sunday. Last Sunday I popped into the supermarket on my way home from church, it's no longer the big issue it used to be. It was a problem because Sunday was God's holy day.
In this passage the Sabbath has become an inconvenience, it's become a day when the people can't trade - when they can't do their deals. These people care about their actions, so long as they're getting more for themselves and they want to take more than their fair share.
We need to make sure we have some time with God. Create our own Sabbath. Regularly commit to spending time with God. But your challenge is to keep it up. Try not to be like the people in the passage - wishing your Sabbath over so you can continue with what ever you were doing.
God cares for us, and has every right to be angry when we don't give him some of our time.
Lord, In the hustle and bustle of my life, help me to find time to be with you. Amen
Written by Louisa Haynes
Amos 8 v 4-10
Listen to me, you who walk on helpless people, you who are trying to destroy the poor people of this country, saying, "When will the New Moon festival be over so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath be over so we can bring out wheat to sell? We can charge them more and give them less, and we can change the scales to cheat the people.
We will buy poor people for silver, and needy people for the price of a pair of sandals. We will even sell the wheat that was swept up from the floor."
The LORD has sworn by his name, the Pride of Jacob, "I will never forget everything that these people did.
The whole land will shake because of it, and everyone who lives in the land will cry for those who died.
The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be shaken, and then it will fall like the Nile River in Egypt."
The Lord GOD says: "At that time I will cause the sun to go down at noon and make the earth dark on a bright day.
I will change your festivals into days of crying for the dead, and all your songs will become songs of sadness.
I will make all of you wear rough cloth to show your sadness; I will make you shave your heads as well.
I will make it like a time of crying for the death of an only son, and its end like the end of an awful day."
When I was growing up shops did not open on a Sunday. Where I grew up the newspaper shop would open for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning so people could collect their Sunday paper (it was never delivered on a Sunday!) There was however one shop that was an exception. The corner shop would open between 11.30am and 3pm. For as long as I can remember we never went in on a Sunday. That was until my Mum had no stuffing for the chicken. Off she ran to the shop and proudly came back to continue cooking lunch.
I remember Sunday trading being debated - people everywhere with an opinion, Christians saying they would never go into a supermarket on a Sunday. Last Sunday I popped into the supermarket on my way home from church, it's no longer the big issue it used to be. It was a problem because Sunday was God's holy day.
In this passage the Sabbath has become an inconvenience, it's become a day when the people can't trade - when they can't do their deals. These people care about their actions, so long as they're getting more for themselves and they want to take more than their fair share.
We need to make sure we have some time with God. Create our own Sabbath. Regularly commit to spending time with God. But your challenge is to keep it up. Try not to be like the people in the passage - wishing your Sabbath over so you can continue with what ever you were doing.
God cares for us, and has every right to be angry when we don't give him some of our time.
Lord, In the hustle and bustle of my life, help me to find time to be with you. Amen
Written by Louisa Haynes