Amos 8:1 says, Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.  Once more, God did not show Amos some astounding sight, but simply something that was very ordinary.  God may speak through extraordinary events, but more often He speaks to us through the ordinary things of life.  Still, even in the ordinary things, we need to listen, to behold, when God speaks to us.  In verse two, God asks, And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.  Once more, God was asking Amos what he saw.  When God is at work in our lives, we must see more than just the material things of life.  Amos answered God saying he saw a basket of summer fruit.  Without listening to what God had to say about this basket of summer fruit, Amos could only see the obvious.  When we rely on our own understanding, instead of listening to God, we will miss much of what God has to say to us.  The herdman Amos saw only a basket of summer fruit, but the prophet Amos was to be told what it signified.  God said this basket of summer fruit depicted the end of His people, Israel.  God was no longer going to protect them.  When those who are called God's people refuse to follow God's leadership, then they will never have His forgiveness and protection.  Verse three declares, And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.  Empty, polluted worship of God will never be acceptable.  We must take the worship of God seriously, especially when we gather together in His name.  We are not there to be entertained, but to worship God.  Verse four states, Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,  God cited some particular sins that His chosen people were guilty of.  Once more, the first focus was on the treatment of the poor and needy.  We, as followers of Christ today, need to ask how we treat the poor and needy of the world, especially if God has blessed us materially. I believe that God expects us to use all that He blesses us with to honor Him. Verse five says, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?  The people of Israel were not content to oppress the poor and needy just six days a week, but wanted the religious holy days and the Sabboth to be over with quickly.  They evidently still went through the motions of observing them, but did not really use these days to honor God.  Today, we just incorporate materialism into the days that should be set aside to honor God.  There was also the charge that they cheated people that they traded with, using false balances, or scales.  Verse six says, That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?  The only concern God's chosen people had for the less fortunate was how they could use them for their own benefit.  The poor may always be taken advantage of, but it should never be by those who are God's people, true followers of Christ.  We cannot look down on or ignore the poor and needy of the world, and we certainly cannot abuse them and follow God's teachings.  Verse seven states, The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.  God declared that He would not forget the way those who were supposed to be His people dealt with dishonesty in the world.  God has not changed since that time.  We, who profess to be followers of Christ will be held to a higher standard than those who aren't.  The fact that through Christ all our sins are forgiven does not give us the freedom to sin.  We must do all for the glory of God.