Albert Barnes Commentary Amos 5:4

"For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;" — Amos 5:4 (ASV)

Seek you Me, and you shall live - Literally, “seek Me; and live.” Wonderful conciseness of the word of God, which, in two words, comprises the whole of the creature’s duty and his hopes, his time and his eternity. The prophet uses the two imperatives, uniting both man’s duty and his reward. He does not speak of them as cause and effect, but as one. Where the one is, there is the other. To seek God is to live. For to seek God is to find Him, and God is Life and the Source of life.

Forgiveness, grace, and life enter the soul at once. But the seeking is diligent seeking: “It is not to seek God in just any way, but as it is right and fitting that He should be sought, longed for, prayed for, who is so great, a Good, constantly, fervently, indeed, to the best of our ability, the more constantly and fervently, as an Infinite Good is more to be longed for, more loved than all created good.” The object of the search is God Himself. Seek Me, that is, seek God for Himself, not for anything apart from Him, not for His gifts, not for anything to be loved along with Him. This is not to seek Him purely.

All is found in Him, but by seeking Him first, and then loving Him in all things, and all things in Him. And you shall live, first by the life of the body, escaping the enemy; then by the life of grace now, and the life of glory hereafter, as in the words of the Psalmist: your heart shall live who seek God (Psalms 69:32).