Amos 5: 14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
The Lord is telling us that for us to live and for Him to be with us, we need to seek good and not evil.
The verb ‘seek’, on the surface, is a casual action, but here it is in an ‘imperative’ mood, so it is not a passive suggestion but an active order. If we look at the following scripture, it speaks of hating evil and loving good.
Hate and love are strong feelings. It is not just a thought but is backed by actions and emotions. Hate is not always negative; what matters is what it is focused on.
Long back, the Lord had me preach on this topic at a service, and even at the service before I started preaching, I felt that what I had was strong, and people would not receive it easily, so I was praying on it. To my surprise, I saw something crawling on the floor. Initially, it was coming in my direction; later, it turned to the Pastor standing next to me. It looked like a leech, and I started to wonder what it was doing in church. Someone moved it away from the crowd. I realised the Lord was telling me hate is like a leech. It is considered bad because it sucks blood, which symbolises life, but when used properly (like in medicine on infected wounds/areas) it can save lives.
Both hate and love are strong actions, and both can build or destroy depending on what they are focused on. The Lord is telling us to have both and discern how we use them, or what they are focused on. It is only when we hate evil and love good that we will seek good and not evil; then only we will live (a meaningful and eternal life) and the Lord will be with us.
[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are Almighty God. You are a Holy and Righteous God. You are Light, and there is no darkness in You. Lord, we pray that we understand we need to have both love and hate within us to have You. We are called to love good and hate evil, and not the other way around. We pray we discern things…
This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
[Reference Scriptures]
Amos 5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
Psalms 34:12-16
12 What man [is he that] desireth life, [and] loveth [many] days, that he may see good?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD [are] upon the righteous, and his ears [are open] unto their cry.
16 The face of the LORD [is] against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.