Let justice run down like water

²¹ “ I hate, I despise your feast days,
      And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
       ²² Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
      I will not accept them,
      Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
       ²³ Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
      For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
       ²⁴ But let justice run down like water,
      And righteousness like a mighty stream. 

Amos 5:24

Last year during a time of discouragement about human suffering, the Lord directed me to read Amos. Generally, I do not spend much time reading the minor prophets, and at the time could not recall anything of Amos. I remember being encouraged and astounded by how emphatically God insisted on justice. There was no getting around it! No excuses. Horrific atrocities were being committed, and Israel was not responding. I certainly see this to some level in the church today. 

This verse I have quoted above, Amos 5:24, was the inspiration for the name of the conference I attended: Mighty Waters. It is also displayed in the lobby water feature at Joni and Friends. It is encouraging how God seeds things in us, such as this verse that is now prominent in my life.