Daily Devotional
Near to God, Not Back
The Lord establishes David, gives victory over enemies, and teaches him not to move until He gives the signal. Yet the same chapter quietly shows David multiplying wives. So the gift of strength does not excuse disobedience. Amos makes this plainer: God judges the nations for cruelty, but He does not spare Israel when they sell the righteous, trample the poor, and corrupt those set apart to Him. Nearness to holy things does not protect a stubborn life.
Hebrews therefore presses us forward. We are not to linger forever at the threshold, repeating first lessons while our deeds remain unchanged. We are to go on to maturity, to become fruitful ground and not land that drinks rain yet bears thorns. The warning is severe because the promise is great: hope is set before us, and that hope is not idle speech but a fast hold on the world to come. As Chrysostom says, Christ has opened the way "by which we draw near unto God."
But those who draw near must not sell justice for gain or use God’s gifts for indulgence. Clement recalls the charge of Amos: "For three iniquities of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn him back; because they have given away the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, which tread upon the dust of the ground." If we would be confirmed, we must be cleansed. Let the strong repent of hidden compromise; let the prosperous remember the poor; let the baptized endure in obedience. God is not unjust to forget labor done in love, but neither is He blind to loveless religion.
“For above he says which enters into that within the veil, Hebrews 6:19, but here, by which we draw near unto God.”
— John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews
“As the Lord reproves Israel by Amos, saying, "For three iniquities of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn him back; because they have given away the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, which tread upon the dust of the ground."”
— Clement of Alexandria
For Reflection & Discussion
What gain, purchase, or advantage this week has tempted you to treat another person unjustly, and what concrete restitution or refusal must you make today?
What thorn in your life must be cut down now—sexual compromise, greedy habit, deceitful speech, or neglect of prayer—and what act of repentance will you keep before nightfall?
Whom will you serve in costly love this week—a poor person, debtor, stranger, sick neighbor, or enemy—so that your hope bears fruit and does not remain barren?
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