Tag Archives: repentance

The Basket of Summer Fruit — Amos 8 and the Urgency of Returning to the Lord

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When Amos stood before the people of Israel with a basket of summer fruit, it must have looked harmless enough, a simple, everyday image from life in the land. But the Lord often takes what is familiar and uses it to press home eternal truth. “Amos, what do you see?” the Lord asks. “A basket of summer fruit,” he replies (Amos 8:1–2). And then God unveils the meaning:

“The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.”

In Hebrew, the words for summer fruit (קַיִץ, qayitz) and end (קֵץ, qetz) sound nearly identical. It’s a prophetic pun, sharp, memorable, and unsettling. Israel was like a basket of overripe figs: attractive on the outside, but moments away from spoiling. The time of opportunity was closing. The moment for repentance was about to rot on the table.

A People Ripe for Judgment

The summer fruit symbolizes ripeness, not for blessing, but for judgment. Israel’s worship continued, their sacrifices continued, their festivals continued… but their hearts had long since wandered. They trampled the poor (8:4), cheated with dishonest scales (8:5), and viewed the Sabbath as an inconvenient interruption to profit. They recited prayers while plotting injustice. They sang psalms while nursing idolatry.

God will not bless a people who only want Him as a religious garnish.

The Lord’s word through Amos exposes the painful truth: Israel’s zeal for ceremony hid a hollowness of soul. Their piety ripened toward catastrophe. They were, as one commentator put it, “religiously active and spiritually empty.”

The Famine Worse Than Hunger

Then comes the most chilling warning of all:

“Behold, the days are coming… when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” (8:11)

There is no judgment more severe than being left alone with our sin.

When God withdraws His Word, He withdraws His mercy.

When He removes the lamp of Scripture, He removes the path of life.

Israel’s greatest threat was not Assyria, it was the silence of heaven.

And in every generation, this danger is real. A people who repeatedly refuse to listen eventually lose the ability to hear. A congregation that treats God’s Word as optional soon finds it unintelligible. A heart that trifles with Scripture risks becoming calloused to it.

Spiritual deafness is not sudden; it is the final stage of long neglect.

Our Moment of Ripeness

We, too, live in a season of summer fruit.

We have shelves of Bibles, yet struggle to open them.

We have podcasts, sermons, resources, commentaries, yet the Word often sits unopened while lesser voices fill our days.

We confess Scripture’s authority while giving it our leftovers.

We lament the state of the culture while ignoring the state of our souls.

The warning of Amos 8 is not locked in ancient Israel. It is a mirror held before the church today. The Lord is patient and abounding in steadfast love, but His patience is not permission. A basket of fruit only stays fresh for so long.

A Call to Return Before the Word Grows Silent

If the Spirit uses Amos 8 to stir conviction, even the faintest tremor, do not brush it aside. Overripe fruit doesn’t grow firm again. Repentance delayed is repentance endangered.

But repentance embraced?

That is where renewal begins.

Turn from the sin that has slowly numbed your soul.

Turn from the distractions that drown out God’s voice.

Turn from the idols, quiet, respectable, culturally acceptable, that have replaced Scripture in shaping your affections.

Turn toward the Lord while His Word still calls, still convicts, still comforts, still reveals Christ.

The same God who warned Israel also welcomed prodigals.

The same Lord who threatened silence still speaks to the humble.

The same voice that announced judgment still whispers mercy to those who bend the knee.

Before the famine comes, feast.

Before the silence falls, listen.

Before the basket spoils, return to the One who offers life.

May the Lord give us ears to hear, hearts to obey, and souls renewed by the living, enduring, life-giving Word.

SDG

Be Open to Correction

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I’ve never claimed to be a great student, but I have always loved learning. When I was in high school, my only goal was to have a better GPA than my brother, and once I did that, I didn’t really push myself. When I was in college I saw which students were graduating with honors, and I figured I was at least as smart as they were, so I hit that standard as well.

It wasn’t until I got to seminary in preparation for Pastoral Ministry, and when I was paying for the education myself, that I really started to apply myself. I read everything that was assigned. I joined study groups, did extra assignments, and really pushed myself to achieve the best education I could. The big difference was I wasn’t as concerned about the grade, I was passionate about the study, and that made all the difference.

What I’ve found, however, over the years since seminary, is that I don’t much remember all the things I got right in school; what really stands out is what I got wrong. Case in point: the only question I remember from my Worship final in the Worship in the Reformed Tradition class is the one I got wrong.

I studied like crazy for that final, and it paid off. I sat down, began the test, and just felt confident with every answer. Except for this one: “What is the Haggadah?” When I read that, my mind went blank. I went through the rest of the test, answering everything as best I could, the circled back to this question, “What is the Haggadah?” Still nothing. Knowing I had done everything I could on the rest of the test, and knowing no amount of head-scratching was going to help me produce an answer to this question, I quickly wrote, “My favorite brand of Ice Cream…” and turned the test in.

I don’t remember any of the other questions from that test. But I do remember the Haggadah. And now I know what it means. In Hebrew, Haggadah means, “A retelling.” It comes from Deut 6, when the children would ask their parents what God’s commands and testimonies meant and why they were important, and the Father would retell the story of their deliverance from Egypt at God’s mighty hand. This is essential in our Biblical understanding of worship, because as we worship according to God’s Word, we are retelling the story of our salvation in God.

What stuck with me from that test is the lesson I learned in my error. I walked away knowing what I didn’t know and still needed to learn. And this is the mark of a wise man, he knows what he doesn’t know.

As you go through life, don’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know, to own your own mistakes. Our most important lessons are learned in our failures. The only people who don’t fail are those who don’t try. Mistakes and failures are not flaws in the system, they are how we learn and grow. The true fool is the one who refuses to learn from error, who continues in it, and only grows bitter and resentful when facing setbacks.

This is Biblical.

Proverbs 15:32 “Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.”

Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

In fact, God honors and exalts those who humble themselves with a penitent heart.

Is 57:15  For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Ps 149:4  For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

1 Pe 5:5  Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Be humble, knowing you will make mistakes. Listen to the advice of those who have gone before you that you may avoid their errors. And when you stumble and fall, for that is guaranteed, be humble, repent, admit your error, and with a heart seeking wisdom, grow in the grace of the Lord.

SDG