A Famine for the Word

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Scripture: Amos 8:11-12 (The Message)

11–12  “Oh yes, Judgment Day is coming!”

                        These are the words of my Master God.

                  “I’ll send a famine through the whole country.

                        It won’t be food or water that’s lacking, but my Word.

                  People will drift from one end of the country to the other,

                        roam to the north, wander to the east.

                  They’ll go anywhere, listen to anyone,

                        hoping to hear God’s Word—but they won’t hear it

Devotion:

            Today this country and indeed all of what we call “western civilization” is suffering from a severe lack of hearing the word of the Lord. God has allowed the people to seek after the word of God in many diverse places, but no matter where the people wander, they are unable to find the true word of the Lord. Even the very church of Jesus Christ has gone seeking to hear the word in places other than the Bible and finds itself starving for the truth. Truth that is found only in the pages of Holy Scripture.

            Why this departing from the word that God has given us? The culture and the church have both succumbed to the first lie Satan used in the Bible in Genesis chapter 3. Where the serpent asked Eve “Did God really say…” And Eve doubted the word of God and bought the lie that knowledge and wisdom could be found outside of God’s word. We humans are constantly looking for some new way to learn how to live that doesn’t present us with the need to obey God. Because we know that if we live by what the Bible teaches, we will have to, in the words of Jesus, “deny yourselves and pick up your cross daily and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Our sinful nature resists this call and will do almost anything to avoid following Jesus’ commands.

            So, the word is still (for the present moment at least) heard in the Church. And there have never been so many Bibles available for sale. The word is available at every brick and mortar bookstore as well as over the internet. In my Bible Study software program, there are 154 different kinds of Bibles available at my fingertips. I’ll wager there are many more Bibles out there in peoples homes than there are Bibles that are actually read. People turn to psychology for help with what’s ailing them rather than turn to the Bible to see what it might have to offer for advice. Surely modern science must be better than a 2000+ year old book we reason to ourselves.

            Therefore, the search for truth outside God’s word continues. We take personality tests, even intelligence tests to determine why we act the way we do. We seek out professional psychologists and other doctors to help us feel better. And God can and does use such things to bring relief to people. But all healing ultimately comes from God. His word can counsel us. We should not neglect it lest we discover we are famished for God’s presence in our lives.

Prayer:

            Dear Lord help us to seek the answers to our problems in your word rather than turn to the word of men for answers. Keep us in your care and teach us to seek you in your word. May we reject the temptation to doubt your word as Adam and Eve did in the garden. May we stand on your word and resist the temptation to doubt it. Help us Lord we pray to live lives that are salt and light to this confused world. Help us to offer your word wherever we go. Amen.

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