Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,
“Behold I am about to put a plumb line
In the midst of My people Israel.
I will spare them no longer.
— Amos 7:7-8
I knoW some folks who recently decided to build a bigger chicken coop. So one day, they did chicken coop building stuff that you do on day one. Measuring out the area and placing the post. The problems was when they began to put the chicken wire on and discovered that the post were not the same distance apart. Some were leaning. Evidently it’s a problem when the bottom of the two post is closer than the top. Professional chicken coop builders they weren’t. In a perfect chicken coop building world, they should have been able to just place the wire where it belonged. As it was, they spent a long time measuring placing and cutting the wire to secure the chickens.
In chapter 7 of Amos, the Lord appeared to him with a plumb line in His hand. He had watched as Israel had gotten off track, making God as frustrated as those chicken coop builders. The plumb line is used in building things to ensure a straight line. God warned Amos of His plan to bring Israel back to a straightened path. He had been patient with them but enough was enough.
Sadly, today, our world is as crooked as Israel was. The difference is the plumb line. Our plumb line is Jesus Christ. When we find ourself starting to lean or sway, we always know where to look to correct our path. One way we do that is to spend time in The Word.
Today I encourage you to keep your eye on the plumb line Sometimes it’s easier to stay on track than to try to get back on it.
