NO BIBLE NO BREAKFAST DAILY BIBLE REFLECTIONS AND MORE

The theme for our reflection is “A plumb line is set” A plumb line is a ball of lead or other heavy object attached to the end of a line for finding the depth of water or determining the vertical on an upright surface. God revealed to Amos that Israel’s sins had become unpardonable therefore God had set a plumb line against Israel to measure their uprightness. The result showed that Israel was like a crooked or bent wall. In other words, the nation’s sin or disobedience had made them spiritually and morally twisted or deformed when measured by God’s plumb line. Before God set a plumb line against Israel, the prophet Amos had pleaded with God not to destroy the nation from Amos 7:1-6. For instance, Amos said “This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: The Sovereign LORD was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. ⁵ Then I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small! ” ⁶ So the LORD relented. “This will not happen either,” the Sovereign LORD said. (Amos 7:4-6)

Beloved in the Lord, the Lord proved to Amos that He was merciful but Israel refused to repent! It was for this reason, He decided to destroy them. Amos said, “This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos? ” “A plumb line, ” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. (Amos 7:7-8). In other words, Israel failed to obtain mercy from God because their hearts were hardened by sin.

Dear friend, there is a popular saying that “You don’t blame Jesus if you don’t go to heaven”. Our God is merciful to us even in our state of sinfulness or disobedience. This is evident in Ezekiel 18:21-23 when the Lord said “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²² None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. ²³ Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD.” Truly, God demonstrated His love and mercy for humanity through Jesus. Jesus assured us that “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) Paul gave a testimony of his salvation when he wrote that “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Timothy 1:15). The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 demonstrates God’s unconditional love for repentant sinners, and Paul again made us understand that “…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8).

Beloved in the Lord, I have demonstrated to you that before a plumb line is set by God to measure our unfaithfulness and disobedience, He always gives us enough time to repent and be saved. It is for this reason Paul asked the question “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2). The plumb line is the symbol of God’s judgement of the unrepentant sinner. God uses the plumb line to demonstrate the state of our crookedness before we are judged for our unrepentance. Just like a mason or builder will destroy a wall when the plumb line indicates that it is bent or out of its vertical shape, so shall God destroy us if we are found to be crooked or bent through sin and disobedience to Him. We are being admonished by John the Baptist to “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance…The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:8,10). Again. Peter also invites us to “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (Acts 3:19). Beloved in the Lord, before God even sets a plumb line against our lives, our consciences must reveal how crooked we are. We are spiritually and morally crooked or bent because we are corrupt at our offices, we are unfaithful in our relationships, we have been wicked and unjust in our dealings with one another yet we pretend all is well. Today is the day of repentance. Jesus came into our lives to fix our crooked lives and to rebuild us into a straight wall which is pleasing to God. Jesus can only fix us when we allow Him into our lives, He says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20).

Dear friend, we cannot build ourselves since we are spiritually and morally weak, we need Jesus to rebuild our lives. It does not matter the number of men or women we have fornicated with and how worthless we feel now, it does not matter the number of abortions we have committed, Jesus, the Master Builder is here to rebuild our lives for us to be made anew and be found worthy when God’s plumb line is set on us. Even if we give up on ourselves, Jesus does not give up on us, let us give Him a chance today. Our worthless lives are made worthy in Christ, it is for this reason, He assures us that “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32). it is important to remember that the plumb line of God is His Word. The more we hold on to His Word our lives shall remain upright. Jesus said ” “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. (John 12:47-48) May the Lord find us upright when His plumb line is set upon our lives. Shalom.

REFLECTION

Merciful Lord, we surrender our lives into Your hands, fix and rebuild us through the power of the Holy Spirit so that we shall be found worthy when we are measured by Your plumb line. Amen

You can watch the reflection by following the Facebook link below. Blessings. https://fb.watch/lsJBSpM4f3/?mibextid=ZbWKwL