Empty Altars
Israel had power, prosperity, and religious activity, but their altars were empty. Not empty of ritual, but empty in their hearts. God’s charge against them wasn’t about temple attendance or missed sacrifices; it was about how they treated people. Their worship was disconnected from their lives.
This is what God calls empty worship: obedience in appearance only. Amos reminds us that attending service means little when we ignore the cries of the broken, justify injustice, or harden ourselves to conviction. Abraham gives us a clear picture of what true worship is in its pure form: obedience.
In Genesis 22:1-5, Abraham says to his servants in verse five: “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there and then we will come right back.”
Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to God. When we obey, we worship; and when we worship, we are always found obeying. If we reduce worship to simply singing a slow song in church, our altars often remain empty.
Complacent Christianity happens when conviction falls on deaf ears and hard hearts. It’s when we show up but don’t change, when we serve publicly but ignore God privately, when we care more about being seen than being formed. It’s like paint in a can full of potential but lacks the motion of obedience. Unless it’s stirred and applied, it can never fulfill its purpose.
Worship is a response to a call to sacrifice, much like Abraham. God doesn’t want songs from lips with hardened hearts. He wants the kind of worship that lives in how we treat others, the kind that listens, repents, and responds. Amos is calling the people to reconnect their worship of God to their treatment of people, particularly the oppressed, widows, orphans, impoverished and the vulnerable in their communities.
Ask yourself these questions today:
Where have I grown complacent in my faith?
How can you stir the paint can of faith today in your life?
Who around me needs justice, compassion, or a defender?
This is what God calls empty worship: obedience in appearance only. Amos reminds us that attending service means little when we ignore the cries of the broken, justify injustice, or harden ourselves to conviction. Abraham gives us a clear picture of what true worship is in its pure form: obedience.
In Genesis 22:1-5, Abraham says to his servants in verse five: “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there and then we will come right back.”
Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to God. When we obey, we worship; and when we worship, we are always found obeying. If we reduce worship to simply singing a slow song in church, our altars often remain empty.
Complacent Christianity happens when conviction falls on deaf ears and hard hearts. It’s when we show up but don’t change, when we serve publicly but ignore God privately, when we care more about being seen than being formed. It’s like paint in a can full of potential but lacks the motion of obedience. Unless it’s stirred and applied, it can never fulfill its purpose.
Worship is a response to a call to sacrifice, much like Abraham. God doesn’t want songs from lips with hardened hearts. He wants the kind of worship that lives in how we treat others, the kind that listens, repents, and responds. Amos is calling the people to reconnect their worship of God to their treatment of people, particularly the oppressed, widows, orphans, impoverished and the vulnerable in their communities.
Ask yourself these questions today:
Where have I grown complacent in my faith?
How can you stir the paint can of faith today in your life?
Who around me needs justice, compassion, or a defender?
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