Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the Lord God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken. Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. (Amos 5:14-15)

Good And Evil

God has always given humanity a choice. Man was created as a free moral agent able to decide for himself. Adam and Eve were given a choice, and they chose to follow the path of evil. In the days of Noah, the world had become so corrupted with evil that the Lord destroyed all life. Only Noah and his family were saved. Moses warned the nation of Israel to obey the word of the Lord, or they would face His wrath. The Israelites chose to follow the path of unrighteousness and were destroyed. Jesus came to bring salvation to all men, imploring them to follow the goodness of God. They killed Jesus and persecuted the early church. Evil reigned over the hearts of men.

Evil is a choice. During the tumultuous days of the divided kingdom of Israel, the prophet Amos sternly warned God’s people to repent and change their ways. As a prophet, he knew what God would do to the people if they did not change. Repentance is making a change and choosing good over evil. Israel did not repent, and they were destroyed. Goodness must be sought after. Life comes from seeking the righteousness of God. To seek goodness, one must hate evil. It is impossible to love good and evil at the same time. Jesus explained that God and mammon are not compatible. A choice must be made. The point is that a choice can be made.

Amos told the people of God to seek good and hate evil. Israel was being destroyed because the people were seeking evil and hating goodness. They loved evil. There was no justice in the land as the poor were being mistreated, immorality was rampant, and God had been forgotten. Evil was promoted as the pleasures of life took over the hearts of the people. They were no longer seeking after the good things of God but rather the carnal desires of the flesh and mind. These were the people of God following in the same ways as the nations around them. Little has changed in the years since Amos warned the people. The world remains under the sway of the devil, and evil is promoted everywhere.

God desires to be with His people, and this can only be done when men seek goodness and hate evil. The heart must seek those things that are true and righteous and, at the same time, have an aversion to anything evil. Goodness does not come on its own. Jesus taught His disciples to seek first the rule of God in their life. Those who would seek are those who will find. Finding goodness will only come to those who are seeking goodness. There must be a hatred for unrighteousness, evil, and sin. Job was a man who hated evil, and he reflected such. The corruption of a good heart comes when evil is tolerated.

God promises to be with those who are righteous, seeking truth, and hating evil. The grace of the Lord comes upon those who direct their lives in the pursuit of those things that are true and holy. It takes effort and prayer to have a heart of righteousness. Those who do evil and seek after every evil thing will not be blessed by God. He will turn them away. Without repenting, they will face God’s wrath. Seeking eternal life is running away from those things that are unholy and unrighteous. Stop doing wrong things and start following the right things. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, but His face is against those who seek evil.