“I’m bored.” For centuries “I’m bored” meant you had a hole drilled through you. But about 300 years ago bore came to mean a “tedious person or situation” or “to be wearisome.” Hence “I’m bored” now means to be “wearied by dullness or sameness.”

If you have kids, you’ve probably heard that a thousand times. Even though I’m old enough to hear my grandkids say it doesn’t mean I’m too old to remember feeling it. Especially as these long hot summer days wind down toward fall. They bring back memories of slow days when it was too hot to do much outside, and cable TV and the internet were just garage geeks’ dreams. Some kids learned early on not to say it around mom or dad, especially with the follow up, “there’s nothing to do” because they would soon have something to do. They may still be bored, but they were doing something.

Morning Minutes in the Bible on An American Missionary has us studying through the OT Prophetic book of Amos as we work our way chronologically through the Bible. We’re in the OT days of the divided Kingdom with Uzziah and his son Jotham reigning in Jerusalem, and Jeroboam II reigning in Samaria. This was about 750 years before Jesus. Those were prosperous times for both nations. And while Uzziah and Jotham trusted in God, Jeroboam II trusted in himself and his people.

Amos was sent to correct Israel’s mistaken belief in itself instead of God with a call to repent or fall. After his fourth vision comparing the nation to a basket of rotten fruit to be thrown out (Amos 8:1-3) he began to note their boredom with God. They were tired of worshipping God because it got in the way of their real interest – making money. They asked “When will the new moon be over…and the Sabbath?” Amos 8:5.

As if their boredom wasn’t bad enough, their real disinterest in God was exposed with the description of how they made their money – on the backs of the poor and needy. They “trample the needy…do away with the humble…make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger…cheat with dishonest scales…buy the helpless…and the needy…sell the refuse of the wheat” (Amos 8:4-6). They were bored with God because He got in their way.

Does God get in our way today? Even if we would never cheat anyone financially do we cheat them through refusing to serve Him according to His instructions? Do we claim to have faith, but do nothing with it? Do we go to church and claim “a personal relationship with Jesus” while living in sin? Do we live moral, upright lives, but go to church for emotion driven entertainment? Being bored with God now won’t be anything compared to being bored for all eternity alone in hell.