For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel. Seek me and live.
– Amos 5:4
Four words. Just let them soak in today. We’re going to pray according to Amos 5:4. Just let these words soak in. Seek me and live. That’s what God says to his people. He says it over and over again. In Amos 5:6 seek the Lord and live. Then later on in Amos 5:14 we read, seek good and not evil that you may live so the Lord, the God of hosts will be with you. Hate evil. Love good. So seek the Lord and live.
In other words, life is found in seeking the Lord. I just let that soak in today. Just think about that all day long today or if you’re listening to this at night as you lay your head on your pillow, just let this soak in. Just marinate on this thought. Life is found in seeking the Lord. Do you want life? Like you want to experience life to the full in all of its abundance, then seek the Lord and live.
Amos 5:4 Reminds Us God Gives Us Life
Those who seek after God will live. Those who do not will face eternal judgment.
So let’s do that right now. God, we seek you. We turn our eyes towards you. We bow our hearts before you. And we say to you, we want to know you. Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches. And let him who boasts in this that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord.
Amos 5:4 Leads Us to Pray to Know God
God, we want to know you. We seek you with all of our heart in a Jeremiah 29 kind of way and we want to seek you with everything we have. And we want to know you more fully. God, we want to love you more wholeheartedly. As well as, we want to understand you and your Word more completely. We want to walk with you. Jesus, we seek first your kingdom and your righteousness just like you told us to. Knowing you are our provider, that when we’re seeking you we are free from worry, don’t have to worry about anything when we’re seeking you and trusting in you.
When we’re seeking you we have a peace that passes all understanding. When we’re seeking you we have a joy that supersedes circumstances. And when we’re seeking you we’re abiding and a love that we can’t even fathom or imagine.
According to Ephesians 3, God, we find life in seeking you so God help us to live by seeking you. God help us to seek you from the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we lay down our heads on a pillow at night and all during the day. I was to pray continually, to walk with you humbly and to seek you nonstop in everything we do, every decision we make, everything we do. In our work, in family, in home, and in church, help us to seek you and live in all the fullness you’ve designed us to live in.
This Verse Reminds Us God Keeps His Promises
As we just think about Jeremiah 29, your promise to your people there. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. When we want to find you, we want to know you. We want to experience your grace, all that you are in all of your fullness for we know that you are our life. The more we seek and know and walk with and worship and love you, the more we experience life. So we pray, help us to do that. Amos 5:4, help us to seek you and live. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
