Drift to Destruction

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” D.A. Carson

The prophet Amos confronted the rulers of his day with some very savvy object lessons. He masterfully made points with pictures of locust, fire, fruit baskets, and my favorite – the plumb line. 

A plumb line is a long cord, weighted with a bob. As masons erect tall buildings, the plumb line ensures that the walls do not drift away from vertical. The plumb line is absolute, and the bricks must align with it to stay straight, strong.

Amos preached to Israel several years before the Assyrian annihilation. This vision came to him: “The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" "A plumb line," I replied. Then the Lord said, "Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer .” (Amos 7:7-8)

Israel started out true to plumb with all the stability and strength that accompanies great craftsmanship. But now the wall leaned out of alignment becoming vulnerable to collapse. People, families, businesses, churches, and countries can drift dangerously away from plumb. Realign with God’s design and stay safe, and strong.

Dan Bolin

President

Refueling in Flight Ministries