260920 Amos 3

Several years ago, I went to the doctors asking for a referral to the hospital's audiology department because I was having difficulty with hearing.

The GP gave me a cursory hearing test, and his verdict was that I had a condition called selective hearing.

Clearly, I'm not the only one.

As it turned out, the hospital said I had tinnitus.

In layman's terms, it means that I can hear a repetitive sound in my body which normally the brain filters out, similar to how you do not constantly notice the feeling of clothes on your skin.

The brain also filters out external noises.

An example would be the experience of people who live by a busy road and after a few weeks scarcely hear the traffic.

I'm sure you can suggest similar sounds to which we can become accustomed and which fade into the background of our lives.

This process of filtering out can happen spiritually.

When I first came to know Jesus as my Saviour, I was elated.

It was a joy to come to church, to be within the family of God, who would sing wonderful songs and hymns, listen to God's word read and explained, join in with prayers that became familiar and meaningful.

As time went by, however, I discovered that something that I suspect many Christians discover.

The danger is not that we stop believing, but that we stop listening.

The things that once thrilled us can gradually become familiar.

God's word is still being read, but we can become accustomed to hearing it without allowing it to speak into our lives.

This was precisely the danger facing the people in the northern kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BC.

At first sight, everything appeared healthy.

This is one of the most prosperous periods in the history of the Northern Kingdom.

King Jeroboam II had restored much of Israel's territory.

Trade flourished, harvests were plentiful, and many people enjoyed a standard of living unknown to previous generations.

there was a strong tendency to measure God's blessing by outward circumstances.

Prosperity could easily be regarded as evidence of God's favor, while poverty, sickness, or suffering could be interpreted as evidence that a person was under God's displeasure.

Many people in biblical times believe that poverty, sickness and disability or other forms of suffering were signs that a person lacked God's blessing or that they were being punished for sin.

However, the Bible repeatedly challenges that assumption.

In the Old Testament, There was a connection between covenant obedience and national blessing.