Abundant provision
Indeed, the days are coming, says the LORD, when the plowman will overtake the one who is reaping, and the treader of grapes the one who is sowing the seed; the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it.
- Amos 9:13
Today's devotion comes from our
Decade of Dominion: 52 Week Devotional.
Has anyone ever taken advantage of you or tried to keep you down? Perhaps you’ve felt neglected or abandoned at some point in your life. That’s where we find the prophet Amos. Amos was a simple man; a country farmer and a shepherd. He is best known from the book that bears his name among the minor prophets of the Old Testament. You wouldn’t expect to find a story of abundant provision involving a man so simple and humble, yet his character and situation provides the perfect backdrop to discover something amazing about God.
Amos was called to prophesy against the northern kingdom of Israel. Under King Jeroboam II’s leadership, the nation experienced expanded influence, but also idolatry, which resulted in injustice and corruption. This became a common theme with all of the successive kings and wealthy leaders who took advantage of the weak and the poor. Those who were blessed with abundance manipulated the system to keep the less fortunate (widows and orphans) down, while the rich profited at their expense. This sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Abundance in the hand of sinful, broken humans leads to corruption, manipulation, and oppression.
It’s against this backdrop that the opulent provision of God is revealed. I’m glad that God is not a man, and that He doesn’t think or act like a man: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8). Our God sees the plight of the needy and does not hold back His hand of provision whenever someone calls upon Him in faith. In fact, he told Amos that provision was about to flow to those in need in a manner that had never been seen or even described before. God declared that the days were coming that the sowers and the reapers, the harvesters and planters would overtake one another because of the abundance that God would bestow upon His people. They wouldn’t have to depend on kings or landowners—the hills themselves would overflow with His bounty.
If you’re in need of any good thing, get ready! We serve the God who does exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond all that we can ask or imagine; pressed down, shaken together, and running over. He gives not only everything that you could need or want materially and naturally, He also gives the Holy Spirit without measure and life in abundance.
Lord, as we rise to meet each new day, please let us be filled with Your spirit. Wherever we go, let us spread love, joy, peace, goodness, and faithfulness. Let us desire to become more like you and to worship you in all we do. Amen.
Further Reading
- Ezekiel 37:9
- Luke 6:38
- Ephesians 3:20
