Day 18: Proverbs 9:8, Amos 5:13-15, Micah 6:8

How should we live in this evil time?

We are living in a time where we dislike those who rebuke honestly within love.  Therefore, the wise advise us not to rebuke the arrogant, lest they hate us (Prov. 9:8a).  Even in the time of the prophet Amos, leaders and judges would pronounce judgments and decrees at the city gates, but the arrogant people of Israel did not acknowledge them, rather, they despised them.  Another wickedness that occurred in his time was that judges took bribes and oppressed the poor.  Referring to such times, in Amos 5:13, it is called a time of evil.  In this time, similar to when Amos lived, how should we live?

Firstly, we should learn from the wise and remain silent.  This silence serves as a judgment against the arrogant.  Secondly, we should not seek evil, but pursue goodness.  By hating evil and loving good (Amos 5:15), we must overcome evil with good.  Thirdly, we must establish justice.  The Bible tells us that what God desires is only to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).