Amos 6:13 Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
It is amazing how little it takes to make us happy and how little it takes to make us sad. We have a sunny day, ice cream, a little free time, or some good news, and we are on top of the world. All we need to have is the ice cream to melt, the news to be bad, and the rain clouds to come in, and instantly our entire demeanor is changed. What doesn’t change is God, and stability comes from being in the right relationship to God.
God’s people were not right with Him, so they were wishing for the wrong things. Amos 6:1 says, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria.” In other words, God’s people were trusting themselves. Israel was trusting in their own might. They were at ease and complacent. They were putting far away the evil day, and in turn causing the “seat of violence to come near.” They hadn’t grieved for their sin and the affliction of God’s own people. Because of that they had put themselves in a bad and dangerous position. They were taking joy in things that were fine, but really didn’t make a difference because they were short-lived. They found joy in these things without regarding God.
We can do the same thing today. We can find joy in things that are good, the Bible says that God “giveth us richly all things to enjoy,” while forgetting God. We forget that these small joys are nothing if we are living at odds with God. We find joy in things that amount to nothing if we can be complacent while God’s judgment is near.
Verse 13 puts it this way, “Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?” Aren’t we doing fine and dandy? We have ice cream and a sunny day, aren’t things wonderful? No, they are not. When we are at odds with God, these small joys are all we have instead of being the cherry on top. We find joy in things that amount to nothing. Those things amount to nothing if we find joy while being oblivious to the holiness of God, righteousness of God, and the fact that God, the Judge in this world, will set things straight.