Amos 1

“The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” (Amos 1:1, NKJV)

Jeremiah was the son of a priest. It was not surprising that God would choose him to be a prophet. Saul of Tarsus was raised in a Roman-controlled city that was steeped in Grecian culture, and he was educated in Judaism in Jerusalem by one of the leading teachers of the law. He seemed like a good candidate to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. But who was Amos? The only thing we know about him is that he was a shepherd from Tekoa, a village about 11 miles outside of Jerusalem. But God called him to leave his sheep and go to the northern kingdom of Israel to prophesy to them.

It has been said that God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called. D.L. Moody was a shoe salesman when the Lord called him into the ministry. Billy Graham sold Fuller Brushes door to door. What matters is not where you come from but where God sends you. It doesn’t matter how much you know, but that you know you’ve been called.

Amos teaches us by his example that God can use anyone—even a lowly shepherd—to do great things for His kingdom. Is God calling you to do something? Don’t deny Him or procrastinate. Instead, offer yourself to Him and say, “What is the next step?”