So why do I have the book of Lamentations on my heart today? This is a book about grief, written by Jeremiah, also known as “The weeping prophet.” Lamentations is a book of tears; a funeral song written for the fallen city of Jerusalem, as its people were exiled into Babylon. A few months ago we were studying the Minor Prophets, and things kind of gotten sidetracked! And getting sidetracked is not a bad thing when God’s in it – remember that everything has a season and a purpose. Today I was reading this verse of scripture in Lamentations…“The elders no longer sit in the city gates; the young men no longer dance and sing. Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.” 5: 14-15
What was in the margin next to those verses is what really stood out to me, almost begging for my attention… Amos 8: 10 was referenced for those verses in Lamentations. If you remember, Amos just happens to be the next Minor Prophet book we were studying before things got sidetracked (God-tracked)! These words, along with the words in verses 11-13 are as follows…
“I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning and your singing into weeping. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads to show your sorrow—as if your only son had died. How very bitter that day will be.”
“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord’s word.”
The people had no appetite for God’s word when prophets like Amos brought it. Because of their apathy, God said He would take away even the opportunity to hear His Word. Many still look everywhere for answers to life’s problems except in scripture. God’s Word is available to us now.. This means we have to help people know it before a time comes when they can’t find it.
We need to keep our focus on Jesus. We can’t have one foot in the world, and the other foot in the things of God. Jesus said whoever or whatever we spend our time on, that’s where our heart is; and that is what masters us! So back on track with Amos!
