Do bears shit in the woods?

Listen. Hear this word, for it is God’s word for you. His people.

This is what Amos was saying to the people of God in His time, but it is what God has been saying to His people throughout the ages. To us today. God wants to be in relationship with us. He wants us to live in His best way. If He has something to say, He needs us to listen. He needs us to hear.

How good are you at listening to God? Not just in a sermon on a Sunday, but in all sorts of ways throughout the week too. In what you read, in what you observe, in what you hear. When something rings true in the depths of your being, when something resonates in your soul, that’s God speaking directly to you.

‘You only have I chosen
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your sins.’  Amos 3:2

That seems harsh, doesn’t it? God is punishing His people for their sins precisely because they are His people. But it reminds me of that well known saying ‘With great privilege comes great responsibility’.

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.  Luke 12:48

Much will be demanded from us, precisely because we have been given much. Much will be asked of us, precisely because we have been entrusted with much. We are the children of the one true God. He is right to expect much from us. It’s not about getting away with anything because we are God’s people. We now have a responsibility to show others what it looks like to be in relationship with God.

All that follows reminded me of another popular saying ‘Do bears shit in the woods?’ It’s an inevitable outcome.

Do two walk together
    unless they have agreed to do so?
Does a lion roar in the thicket
    when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
    when it has caught nothing?
Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
    when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
    if it has not caught anything?
When a trumpet sounds in a city,
    do not the people tremble?  Amos 3:3-6

A beautifully visual description of the inevitability within nature. Of how the world is set up to work.

And then this.

When disaster comes to a city,
has not the Lord caused it?
Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.
The lion has roared –
who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken –
who can but prophesy?  Amos 3:6-8

There’s a natural order of events and consequences. As in nature, where there’s a warning that all is not well like the roaring of the lion, so God sends His warnings of impending disasters. He sends messengers. Prophets.

There’s a sense of impending doom. The clouds are gathering. There’s an unrest, a dissatisfaction. There’s oppression. And greed.

‘Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
see the great unrest within her
and the oppression among her people.’
‘They do not know how to do right,’ declares the Lord,
‘who store up in their fortresses
what they have plundered and looted.’ Amos 3:9-10

And there is a natural consequence to all this.

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

‘An enemy will overrun your land,
pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses.’  Amos 3:11

And only a remnant will be spared.

This is what the Lord says:

‘As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
with only the head of a bed
and a piece of fabric from a couch.’ Amos 3:12

And so what can we learn from this? Well, let’s look at what they were doing wrong and seek to change that in our own lives.

‘A great unrest’. So discover a contentment in your own life. A gratitude for all that you have been given, rather than a constant driving and striving for more. Live simply within your purpose and passion.

‘Oppression’. We see time and time again how the way we treat others with respect and integrity and compassion matters.

‘They do not know how to do right,’  So learn. Make it a priority. Seek to live in God’s way. Find out what that is for you in your life.

‘Storing up’. So share. Remember that everything you have has been given to you by God. Give generously. See need and meet it. Be God’s hands.

Live in the way expected of a child of the all-powerful, all-loving God.