God’s Plumb Line
Amos 7: 7-8 “Thus he showed me; 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”.
My sons often comment on the fact that the pictures in our house are hanging crooked. Now, try as I might to hang them straight, I have come to believe that I see things a bit slanted and thus hang things at a slight angle! They look straight from my perspective, but obviously they are not. I don’t currently use a plumb line or a level, but that might not be a bad idea!
GOD uses a plumb line. He has set it in the midst of his people, of which I am now one. It is a plumb line of righteousness. It’s set to indicate right behavior according to God’s own standard. We are the pictures in His room and our task is to line up, fall in line, hang “level” with his plumb line standard. I can’t use my own perspective or my own concept of what is “plumb” and straight. I must “guy off” the true plumb line God has provided through His Son and his Word. To do otherwise is to function on a slant–being slightly deviated from God’s standard. At birth we are all slanted off that plumb line because of original sin, but when we line up with Jesus who is the perfect representation of God’s plumb line of righteousness, we become level and true to plumb. Once that transaction has taken place, our soul stays on line even though the members of our flesh may tilt or tip out of plumb during the course of the day. My task is to daily realign my thoughts, words and deeds with God’s plumb line of right behavior. This is so necessary if I am to represent Christ accurately here is this slanted world.
