One of the Shepherds

Scripture:

Amos 1:1  "The words of the Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa - the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jereboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel".

Observation:

God uses Amos to bring His message and prophetic revelation to the people of Israel.  Before this revelation and after this revelation, we don't hear much about this guy.  All we really know about him is what he shared in this passage, that he was a shepherd of Tekoa.  Apparently he was a shepherd who God thought He could trust to deliver a message to Israel.  God took David from being a shepherd and made him Israel's hallmark King.  He took Amos and made him a prophetic voice.  I believe God uses shepherds because they are people who have time on their hands to spend with Him.

Application:

Why would God take a shepherd of all people to be His voice to a generation?  I believe because shepherds have extended periods of time in isolation where they can spend time with God.  They have, built into their job description, time to spend alone with God and a bunch of sheep.  For those of us who are not shepherds by occupation, I believe it is not about being a shepherd as much as it is about having time alone with God.  I need to make more time to be alone with God in my life right now.

Prayer:

Father, teach me to take time away to be with You and spend time in Your presence.  Help me to step out of the busyness of life and into your presence more often.  Help me to schedule time for this crucial part of my life.  I long for time with You, but unless I schedule it, it never seems to happen.

Yours,

Jeff