Here’s a great question to start our day: “What is success?”
It would seem that 2750 years ago, success was partially measured by what kind of bed you owned! These days you can get a Sealy Posturepedic queen set for under $1000! That’s a pretty decent bed. But in Amos’ time, some people were snoozing in luxury!
4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches.
I have no idea what a bed adorned with ivory would cost today! I’m guessing that today Amos might have said…
4 You lie on your Starry Night Sleep Technology beds adorned with incline mechanisms, wifi, temperature control and pop-up surround sound for $50,000!
Or, Amos might say… 4 You lie on your Jado Steel’s Golden Bed adorned with 24 ct gold and embellished with Swarovski crystals, a BOSE sound system and built in gold plated TV for $160,000!
Or, if he was wanting to show extreme success, he might say…4 You lie on your Magnetic Floating beds adorned 1500 lb magnets for $1.6 million!
And who would argue that sleeping in a $50K or $160K or $1.6M bed is a declaration of success! But that’s exactly what Amos does! He says, “That’s not success! In God’s eyes, if the person crawling into that bed each night doesn’t have a heart and life full of justice and righteousness, they are the opposite of success! They are an extreme failure!”
This is just another example of God’s upside-down-kingdom! In the previous chapter God declared that He hated their religious festivals, their revival services and their worship songs! God flips our value system completely on it’s head! Most would think that that is what God wants most from us, but He says, “I want justice and righteousness!” Now, in this chapter, God is doing it again! Saying up is down and down is up! Those who think they are rich are actually poor and the poor, if their hearts are tuned to God and full of justice and righteousness, are rich!
So, it’s a great question to have bouncing around in our hearts and minds all day today: “What is success? What is my definition of success…and what is God’s definition of success? And which is my life more tuned into?”
YOUR TURN: So, what phrase, word or concept from this chapter lit up your soul today?
HIT ‘COMMENT’ BELOW to share your reflections! You don’t have to complete personal fields to participate!
The Bible: A Chapter A Day 
How can you relax and be so comfortable knowing that the roots from where you came had suffered hard and your not even working hard to maintain the relationship …and you’re eating the best cuts of meat relaxing on your ivory sofas all carefree. Shame on you When this alll goes down (not if, but when) There is no turning back I won’t even hear your voice calling my name. True success is having an intimate relationship with God in your heart and mind. not measured by how comfortable your beds or furniture is. One must be comfortable in the mind with the fruits of the spirit
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Amos has challenged me in looking at how “privileged” I am… and then asking me how I am using this gift… Pastor John’s anointed message did the same thing… I was with a friend on Saturday who showed me how different we were in our “privileges.” She lives in MB housing, I don’t. I have a car, she doesn’t. I have many more choices because of the income I have. I saw how restricted she was when I took her shopping. She shopped with cash, I had my debit card. She was very careful what she bought. I could buy pretty much anything I wanted. It was a wake up call for me. How am I loving those who are less privileged than I? I do “lounge in luxury” (verse 1) a lot more than many. Lord, teach me to “want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living” in my life. (Amos 5: 24)
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I think the key is realizing that all we have comes from the Lord and belongs to Him. He has made us stewards. He shows us how we are to share and bless others. And we have the great joy of being His hands and feet in a needy world. Lord help us to hear Your voice and to be obedient.
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Jolene, God has blessed you with an abundance and you are blessing others and sharing what God has given you. I’m certain that God is well pleased with you.
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Talk about conviction…at work yesterday a friend told me “wow…all your friends are rich!” And I was floored by that. I walk in circles of priviledge. It angered me to hear someone say that…but I obviously needed to
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