Did I lock the door to the car/house? Did I turn off the stove/iron? Where did I leave my glasses/keys/phone? All of us have asked ourselves one of those questions or one like them at some point in our lives. Our memories are subject to failure, our minds get distracted. It’s part of life and nothing worthy of condemnation. But sometimes we forget other important things like birthdays and anniversaries, perhaps not worthy of condemnation, but the more important they are the harder they are to excuse.

But forgetting something like honoring the God who saved us is inexcusable. And that’s exactly what Israel did, which is why God sent Amos to announce His judgment on them. After pointing out how they treated people like paperclips (valueless and disposable – Amos 2:6-8) he turned to history to remind them of what they had forgotten.

God removed the Amorites who held the land before Israel arrived. They were a mighty and well-established people, but God removed them – root and fruit (Amos 2:9). God brought them out of slavery in Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and then brought them into the Promised Land (2:10). He sent them prophets and set apart people to serve him, but the nation silenced the prophets and corrupted the dedicated ones (2:11-12).

Amos came to tell them God has had enough of their forgetfulness. He was weighed down from caring for them (2:13). As a result He was taking away all the things they trusted in instead of Him. Nothing they had previously relied on will help. Speed and strength will fail. The horse and arrow won’t save. The mightiest warriors will drop everything and flee for their lives. Amos 2:14-16. All because they forgot their God.

Today’s Morning Minutes in the Bible on An American Missionary asks the question: What would Amos say to you and me? Not what would he say to those people down the street or around the corner, but to us? Have we forgotten our God and begun to rely on our health, jobs, possessions, bank accounts, getting the right (?) people elected to political office, the government itself, or even our church? Hopefully not, because eventually they will all fail and where will we be then?