Amos 3:7
Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

In this verse, Amos echoes many other Old Testament prophets (Jeremiah and Zechariah, among others) in naming himself and them as “God’s servants.” They are the ones who relay God’s message to His people; they are the ones who write down what God has placed on their hearts. Israel and Judah, both made up of God’s people, were drifting far from God by this time, so nearly all of the prophets’ messages serve as warnings of divine punishment to come, as well as promises of divine restoration after punishment.

These days, the idea of a “prophet” seems a little outmoded; it’s easy to think that the Old Testament prophets were only saying what they wanted to say and passing it off as God’s words. But in fact, as Amos says here, prophets are literally God’s servants, listening to God and acting as God commands. This is not to say that modern Christians can be fortune-tellers, however! Instead, modern people can apply this verse to their daily devotional time, “listening” to God by reading His Word, and then acting in Godly ways based on what they have studied.

So, if we’re confused about an issue, we can seek out Bible verses and passages to learn what God thinks; if we’re having a problem, we can turn to the Bible to see how to handle it in a Godly manner, and so on. We can literally use the Bible as an instructional manual on how to lead a Godly life…and in so doing, become better servants, not only willing to listen but willing to model Christianity for others.