God's Plumb Line

"And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" I answered, "A plumb line." And the Lord replied, "I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins." Amos 7:8 (NLT)

God was fed up with His people. He had given the prophet Amos visions of destruction, but  Amos' earnest pleading convinced God to relent. Nevertheless, God would no longer show grace to His people. He would set a standard (plumb line) that the people must follow or face destruction. Do you think this can be applied to our world today?
The sins of Israel were no worse than our sins. We have turned to idols and forgotten the true and living God. We have allowed the world to influence us rather than influencing the world for God. Is He any more pleased with us than He was with the people of Amos' time? I doubt it.

God wants us to measure ourselves by His plumb line--no other measurement will do. We can't compare ourselves to others, or say that we're better than we used to be. The time is now for taking God seriously. He wants us to be set apart, as Noah was. If we want others to turn to God because of the holy life that we lead, we cannot measure ourselves by any other standard. His plumb line is His Word. That is our only way to measure righteousness and it is the only measurement that counts in His eyes.