We have to come before a perfect judge with empty hands but we do not have to come without a confident hope of forgiveness. Amos 5:4–6 tells us about a promise of life for those who seek God. God has created a way in which he can be just while also being the one who justifies sinners. In this way he can forgive sins and show mercy to his children because of the life and death of Jesus Christ.
The call to seek the Lord and live is not a call to be more religious. Seek me and live
does not mean we must go to religious centres or pilgrimages—to Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba. Rather, it refers to a relationship built upon God’s grace. It refers to seeking the Lord—God who is the Creator, Sustainer, and Judge. A relationship with God who has shown himself, through Jesus, to be gracious, patient, forgiving, and kind. He invites us all to live in relationship with him on the basis of his grace.
When we do this, we must remain humble. That is what Amos 5:15 is ultimately getting at. It may be that the Lord will be gracious. This is not uncertainty about God’s promises but a recognition that salvation depends on him and not on us—he is the Creator and we are his creation, therefore we must come humbly.
4 For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live;