The Plumb Line3/26/2024 Amos 7:7 ~ "This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand." The LORD God stood before the people of Israel with a line of measurement--a plumb line--to see how the nation measured up. And, dear ones, the LORD still stands with a line of measurement to prove His people. In the days before electronic levels and precision lasers, ancient architects would use what was called a "plumb line" to measure the quality of a wall's construction, whether or not it was set to a proper vertical condition. A wall that was leaning would not be considered "true to plumb" and either needed to be repaired or replaced with one that would pose no threat of collapse. In this vision given to the prophet Amos, God showed him a measuring line laid against the northern nation of Israel. In the two previous visions (see Amos 7:1-6) the LORD showed the prophet the destruction of the nation, and in anguish Amos pleaded with the LORD to relent. Both times the Almighty relented, not because the people were innocent, but because the LORD had not yet fully judged them. And that is the vision of the plumb line. God is measuring them up to show how far off the people had wandered from His ways. The people of Israel are represented by the "wall" and it was leaning and no longer true to plumb. The kings were wicked, idolatry was rampant and those who called themselves by the name of the LORD were far from being true to His commands. Dear Christian, with what do you measure yourself? Is it the same measure that God uses? Does God lay a plumb line against the lives of His people today and measure those who call themselves by the name of Christ? Consider the words of 2 Corinthians 10:12, "Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding." I can promise you this--if you measure yourself against those around you, it is the wrong standard. Many people do this, looking to those who are outwardly less virtuous and then make the mistake of thinking themselves to be one who measures up to God. But it is the unwise who looks to another to measure up their own lives. Jesus commanded us in John 7:24, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." There is the means of making a right judgement, there is a plumb line still for the people of God--and that is the Holy Scriptures. Consider Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." We are entreated to self-examination in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" Do not look around you to the people in your life to see if you measure up to them. They do not hold the plumb line. God holds the measuring line against the lives of His people, and He does so in order to bring us to greater holiness. 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 states, "But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world." Today, open your heart to the Lord's plumb line of Scripture. And let the Lord show you where you need to repair those places not true to Him. In His Grace, Pastor Michael
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