Amos 5:14-15

SEEKING GOOD, AND HATING EVIL

‘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. Hate the evil, and love the good.’

Amos 5:14

Nothing can exceed the simplicity of these words, and yet they embody, if rightly understood, the whole of religion.

I. Seek good.—Seek the highest good in the best way. The highest good is God Himself, Who is willing to give Himself even to the sinner. Thus Isaiah: ‘Seek ye the Lord while He may be found.’ If God gives to us Himself, He gives us all good for time and for eternity.

But seek the highest good in the best way, and that is in the way of redemption. Seek it through faith in Him whom the Father hath revealed. Seek it in His Name, through His intercession. Plead His merits. Partake of His sacraments.

II. And not evil.—A little further the prophet says: ‘Hate the evil, and love the good.’ It is no use attempting to seek good unless we hate the evil, for if we are to seek the good, we must love it. And this brings with it all that the Bible, or rather, God in the Bible, says about a change of heart, about the new covenant in which God promises to put His law in the heart, and write it in the mind. Seek, then, the Spirit of God, and by seeking Him you seek the love of God.

—Prebendary Sadler.