Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. – James 1:22
I confess that Amos probably would not have been my first choice in pick for Bible Study material this time around. However, I am glad our Single Adults are all studying this together. I don’t know about you, but I have felt conviction on every turn of the page. Two things have been on my heart lately. First, am I walking in righteousness? Second, what does that mean for me as an individual, for us as a community of single adults, for our church, for our country?
I was further convicted yesterday as I sat at a forum on Children and Youth in Houston. It was a pretty impressive gathering of local leaders from government, organizations and churches. The discussion covered nine topics such as education, children in poverty, uninsured children and human trafficking. After each topic, one of our area pastors prayed for that specific aspect.
Most of the information given was new to me and broke my heart. However, none broke my heart as much as learning the Houston is the hub of human trafficking in the US. “In Houston, approximately 600 children and adolescents are victims of this horrendous crime per night.” The majority of the trafficking revolves around sex trade. I can’t get my mind around this.
You may know this already. The reason I share with you today is because I want to be sure that we are doing more than just talking about what we are learning in Bible Study each Sunday. Our class spent some time one Sunday talking about what we could do in response to our study on a personal level and on a governmental level. Here’s my challenge. As you read through Amos this week, ask God to show you one thing that you can do on a personal level and one that you can do on a governmental level. If you are willing, I’d love to be able to gather some of your ideas and put them together (without names).
My prayer is that we can encourage each other to do something. Our class talked about the fact that we can’t help everyone in the world, but we can help the Gonzalez family and maybe give those children a better opportunity. We can help by investing time and money in organizations like Gracewood that are making a difference in lives of women and children.
One aspect of walking in righteousness is to advocate for those who have no other advocate. There are lots of ways to do this and I encourage you to follow God’s leading in this. What will you do? What can we do together?