ARE YOU PLUMB?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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. 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.”

“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with My sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

Amos 7:7-9

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever heard of the word “plumb”?

Maybe not. It’s not a word we use often, definitely not a word we use as much as a sister term “level” although they both share a similarity in meaning.

You probably know that something level is something horizontally straight or straight side-to-side. The only difference when it comes to something being plumb is the orientation. For something said to be plumb is something that is straight vertically or straight up and down.

Why even enter into this discussion today? What does something plumb have to possibly do with the word of God?

Well, we find out as we continue to study the seventh chapter of Amos for there we find God speaking to his prophet and using the analogy of using a plumb to describe how He has measured up the Israelites. Armed with the knowledge of what it means to be plumb, let’s look again at these verses:

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. 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.”

“The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with My sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”  Amos 7:7-9

Note that God first shows Amos an example of something that was plumb.

Scriptures tell us the Lord was standing next to a wall that was perfectly plumb. In other words, it was perfectly straight vertically as measured by the plumb line the Lord held in His hand. This wall was built to the right standards and specifications which we’re told made it “true to plumb”.

In other words, something that is constructed within expected standards is seen as true and right.

Now, compare that thought to the way the people of God were living and ask yourself this:

If the Lord set a plumb line among His people, the Israelites, checking whether or not they were living true and right, what would He discover?

Knowing how sinful they had been after reading how the Lord indicted His people over and over and over again, not just in Amos but in other Old Testament books as well, it should come as little surprise that they wouldn’t measure up to God standards when He checked them for plumb.

What would you do if you had started to build a wall, only to find it was not plumb?

You probably would tear down the wall and start over again to make sure it was right and in essence, this is exactly what the Lord did with the Israelites. He tore down everything they had to include their cities and towns, their temples, their homes, and finally their freedom, all in an effort to bring them back to a place that was true and right, a place where they would once again be plumb, straight because they placed Him and Him alone at the middle of their individual and collective lives.

All this leads us to a very important self evaluation point.

We know the Lord measured the Israelites of Amos’ day and found them not in plumb, not true or straight in any way based on His standards.

What would the Lord find if He measured you?

Are you plumb?

Thank goodness that we have a way to get ourselves straight if the answer is “no”. For all we need to do is turn back to the word of the Lord and allow His Spirit to dominate our heart, mind, and soul. All we need to do is allow His will and way to be our own because when we follow the Lord’s guidance, we will always know we are walking a straight path, a path that will always be measured plumb and true.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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