And our hearts as cold as ice

Week 13 Wednesday – Amos 5:14-15,21-24; Ps 49; Mt 8:28-34

“Take away from me the noise of your songs” (Amos 5:23). These are strong and sobering words. Through the prophet Amos, God speaks to His chosen people with painful clarity: their worship rang out, but their lives were not pleasing to Him. They offered praise with their lips, yet failed in justice and goodness.

That warning reaches us too. We can have beautiful liturgies, stirring hymns, and reverent ceremony. We can fill a church with music and still miss the heart of worship if our lives are untouched by charity, truth, and mercy. What value is outward praise if I do not go forth loving what is good, honourable, and pleasing to God? What does my song mean if, moments later, I allow sin to grow in my heart?

Amos gives the answer: “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you” (Amos 5:14). Real worship does not end with the final hymn. It continues in the choices we make, the justice we practice, and the love we show.

Lord, stay with us. Purify our worship by transforming our hearts. Amen.