Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said: “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. . . .”
(Amos 7:7-8 NKJV)
If you’re like me, you may have gained a pound or five over the holidays.
How did this happen, this unwanted, non-beneficial weight gain? How shall I ever unravel this mystery? Who conspired against me; who is responsible for the sabotage that led to this result in my mortal flesh?
“A self-inflicted wound” is the verdict rendered by the impartial jury in my mind. The motive? “Pursuit of pleasure,” decries the evidence long since degusted, digested, and assimilated into fat.
It’s an outrage! It’s unfair! All I wanted to do was abandon self-control for a while so I could indulge in . . . food. Must this be the consequence for my actions? Sure and steady growth is terrific when the topic is mutual funds, but not so much when we’re talking about my waistline!
This so-called mystery as to why I gained a few pounds during the holidays is actually no mystery at all. It is neither a random phenomenon nor some new experience. The outcome is easily predictable and, if I’m honest, I’m not the least bit surprised. I did, in fact, grow up during the 1960s and ‘70s when the hip saying, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time” was first introduced.
Hyperbole aside, what we are talking about here is boundaries and accountability—what happens in the natural realm when I neglect regular check-ins with my scale, and what happens in the spiritual realm when I neglect the regular reading and study of God’s Word. I get flabby. I begin to spill over the boundaries God has ordained for me. Even the ocean has a boundary (Job 38:8-11).
Continued long enough, such a lifestyle has the potential to produce obesity and serious illness in my body. Neglecting God’s Word leads to spiritual dullness, and things I once knew were wrong no longer seem quite so bad – because I have removed the Standard from before my eyes.
In the above text, this standard was revealed to Amos as a plumb line. In construction work, a plumb line is used to make/set things straight. It’s akin to the modern day level. If you’re building a fence to corral pigs, eye-balling is probably fine; but when you’re building a life that is Christlike, nothing short of God’s plumb line will do. In 2 Kings 22, we see what happens when God’s Word has been neglected for a period of time.
Circa 640 BC, Josiah began his reign over Israel. He was eight years old. To put this in perspective, he was a third grader. In the eighteenth year of his reign, the twenty-six-year-old Josiah sends Shaphan his secretary to Hilkiah the high priest with instructions to count the money that has been donated for repairs to the Temple, and to give it to the workers to pay for construction materials.
When he returns from the job site, Hilkiah says to Shaphan, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord” (2 Kings 22:8 ESV).
Seriously? You found it? As if it were hidden somewhere? You’re the high priest, for crying out loud. How can you not know exactly where the scrolls are kept?
I have a theory as to why this was a legitimate discovery by the high priest. Josiah’s father and grandfather, Amon and Manasseh, respectively, were two wicked kings. 2 Kings 21:4 tells us that Manasseh actually “built pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord” (emphasis added). Though Amon’s reign was short (only two years), Manasseh reigned for 55 years. There’s little doubt the Temple of the Lord had been neglected for a long time, and it’s likely that Hilkiah was little more than a titular high priest who himself had little knowledge of the Law.
Hilkiah delivers the scroll to Shaphan. Shaphan reads it and then reads it to the king. 2 Kings 22:11-13 (ESV) records Josiah’s response:
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest . . . saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us” (emphasis added).
Josiah is introduced in Scripture as one who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2 ESV). This succinct summation of Josiah’s life was more likely based on the last thirteen years of his life rather than the first twenty-six. While it’s unlikely that he was influenced early on by any real depth of knowledge of God’s law, his upright character was confirmed by his reaction to the reading of the Law – horror.
Not five minutes earlier, Josiah was likely fat, dumb, and happy as they say. But when he saw the plumb line of God’s law compared to Israel’s neglect to keep the law, he was immediately horrified. Have you ever been horrified when you stepped on your bathroom scale after a period of abstinence?
But let’s keep to the main point. As we turn the corner on a new year, perhaps we should rediscover the value of keeping God’s Word before us. For those who may have forgotten where their Bible is, what better time to go “find” it and read it again.
Josiah cleaned house – literally – after he gathered the people and read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Temple. He removed the pagan idols and restored the observance of Passover (see 2 Kings 23). It was said of Josiah that “Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength. . . .” It’s likely his horror turned to delight after he rediscovered and acted upon God’s Word.
Like an old friend you haven’t seen or heard from in some time, you may just find delight in reacquainting yourself with your Bible – after you get over the initial shock of stepping on the scale.
