Seek the LORD and live.
Amos 5:6
The Beach
Daily Devotion – October 18, 2021
Devotion based on Amos 5:6
See series: Devotions
Colonel George Taylor had a problem. It was D-Day. His men had just landed on a Normandy beach to begin the invasion of Nazi-occupied France. The problem was that his men felt trapped on the beach. Their position was alive with enemy gunfire, and everyone was afraid to move forward.
But above the roar of gunfire and the explosion of mortars and the cries of the wounded, Colonel Taylor simply shouted this: “There are only two kinds of men on this beach—those who are dead, and those who are about to die. Let’s get out of here.”
His simple logic worked. His men realized that the beach meant only death. The sooner they moved forward and moved off the beach, the sooner they would find life.
In the Old Testament book of Amos, God’s people found themselves on a similar beach of sorts. It was not a beach threatened with gunfire, however. Rather it was a beach of their own making. It was a beach of their own sin. In spiritual terms, there were only two kinds of people on their beach—those who were dead, and those who were about to die.
The Lord, however, loved his people. That love moved him to speak to them in a clarity that was both piercing and beautiful. “Seek the LORD and live,” he said.
How about you? Do you feel as though you are trapped on a beach right now—a beach of your own making? If so, perhaps you know exactly how you ended up on this beach, or perhaps you don’t. Either way, you sense that this awful beach of yours is not where you’re supposed to be. And what was true of that beach in Normandy is true of your beach too. On it, there are only two kinds of people— “those who are dead, and those who are about to die.”
But Jesus has come to the rescue. On your behalf, he has lived a sinless life. On your behalf, he has washed you clean at the cross. Now, through his Word, he proclaims to you his gospel invitation: “Seek the LORD and live.” The way off your beach has arrived. His name is Jesus.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are my rescue. I am yours. Amen.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.