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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Famine of the Word

"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it." (Amos 8:11,12)


I think there are many times when Christian people take the Word of God for granted in a HUGE way. We are so used to having the Word so readily available to us that we don't treat it as the true treasure that it really is.

Bibles are so abundant in our country - many of us have 5 or more in our homes. We have them in every room but they are used mainly as decoration. Some people only read the bible on Sunday. Some - never. Some - when they have a crisis.

My husband and I went to our annual association meeting last night and it was held at a small Baptist church about 30 miles from our home. As we were sitting in the sanctuary I glanced at their sunday school board and saw that out of the 44 people that attended Sunday School that week, they only had 4 people that read their bibles daily. 4!

Only four people that thought enough about Christ to pick up His Word daily. Only four people that understand the privilege of being able to have God's Word so available to us. Only four people that communed with Him every day.

We should be just devouring the Word of God. We need to get to the place in our lives that we fully understand the meaning of 2 Timothy 3:16,17.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

As Christians, we absolutely can NOT tap into the Wonder of God if we don't read the Word of God.

When we bury ourselves in the Word, we will create a solid foundation in our lives that God can build upon.

When we saturate our minds with the scriptures, we can thus tune our ears to hear Him speak!

When we treasure Him and His Holy Word, we open ourselves up the receive a supernatural touch from Him. Divine intervention awaits us, if we declare to read the Word, let Him speak the Word and then heed the Word.

Let us not be in utter contempt of His Word. Let us not force God to send a famine to the land. A famine of the Word. A famine of the bread of LIFE. A famine that would cause us to sit up an take notice of what we lost.

Let us determine in our hearts to purposefully read, purposefully listen and passionately pursue the awesome, mighty, Holy Word of God.

Oh, Lord, speak Your Word to our hearts! Draw us to a deeper longing of the written Word. Open our ears and hearts. Speak the Word and we WILL listen.



Beth

17 comments:

Andrea said...

Many people treat them like they do antibiotics...they are only there in an Emergency and then it has to get really bad before they pick it up an see what GOD has to say.

Great post.
andrea

JLI said...

Thank you so much for this. It's a sobering truth for many of us. I am not in the Word every day and it usually takes a crisis to reignite the flame. I'm in the Word currently, but don't have a terribly strong hunger for it most days. It's inexcusable and I don't suppose to have a good account to give for all the days I haven't read the Word of God when I stand before Him. I was in Matthew 25 last night and that was a real kick in the rear for me. To be prepared for no one knows the day or the time; only The Father. And there is too much scary stuff to come in the days ahead...false christs and false prophets. I don't want to be one of the ones who doesn't endure to the end!

Anonymous said...

Ooooh I love this post! So true! I am actually in the middle of writing on this very subject for my new TWR column! Awesome!!!

BTW, I have a bloggy award for you over at my place!

Edie said...

Excellent post Beth!

I came into my relationship with Christ by reading the Bible so for a long time I automatically assumed that all Christians read their Bibles. I was stunned to discover how few really do. I have gone through some dry times myself but I do all that I can to keep myself saturated with the Word.

Much love to you!!

Heart2Heart said...

Beth,

Well said. Too many of us take that Word of God for granted always thinking we can pick it up anytime and that we can always be in church anytime we want. However, I sense a move in the church to adapt to a more mainstream approach to the Word of God to not offend anyone and make it more worldly. Let us rise up and make sure that our churches are sharing that Word of God daily and not watering down the gospel for the sake of higher church attendance.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Tammy said...

There was a day when I would just read my Bible and then go on my merry way.

But today I can't imagine picking up His Word and not desiring to do His will.

Great Post!

petrii said...

Beth,
You are so right. There are soooo many out there in other countries that DO NOT have the privledge of freedom. They cannot even speak the Name of Jesus, little lone read His Word. How sad. Thank you for the reminder of this. How privledged and Blessed we are.

Praise Him!!

Love you friend,
Dawn

Loren said...

Powerful Post Beth!

Not only do some not read but some pick and choose like it is a smorgasbord of what they believe or what the will do. It is sooo sad what we do to HIS gospel or don't allow it to do for and unto us!

If people would just grasp it TRULY is a lamp. In it is ~ LIFE, HOPE, DIRECTION, PEACE, LOVE, and sooo much more!!!

Love you and may we all treasure this gift DAILY!

Laurie said...

Amen sister! We do take the Word for granted. Thanks for the encouragement to treasure it as we ought and study it as we should! Blessings, Laurie

christy rose said...

Excellent Post!!

Lisa said...

Your post is so true Beth. His Word is so often taken for granted, even neglected.., and yet it is such a lifeline to the Father. It's His revelation of Himself to you and me.
Love & Blessings ~ Lisa

Karen Hossink said...

Ah, I just read Amos 1-4 this morning. 5-8 are on tap for tomorrow.
And when I read these words about a famine of hearing the words of the LORD, I must say I had a quickening of my heart. I don't want to be cut off from His Word. Ever!
So in agreement with your thoughts here today. May we never take His Word for granted - or have contempt for it!

Jackie said...

Stumbled across your site and am sooo blessed by your post! If we truly had the revelation that The Word is ALIVE and sustains us in every situation of life we would always put It first place, always! How easy it is to just plod along day after day and ignore The Word and push It to the last place on our priority list! It's time for a priority check.......Lord help me to order my priorities according to your order of priorities - WORD FIRST! PTL!
Sweet Blessings!
Jackie

Nancy said...

Your comments were right on the mark. How I treasure my Word. I's important to store up its riches so that if there ever was a loss of Bibles, we would have it in our hearts. I sincerely hope that doesn't happen as I love to see if fresh evey day.

Denise said...

Sobering truth.
We handicap our faith if we ignore the Word and yet, many do.
Sad. Very sad.

Shalom,
Denise

Anonymous said...

Beth,
Powerful words reminding me to plant more of God's word in my heart.
Thank you for your prayers and sweet words.
Miriam :)

Anonymous said...

Oh, your words speak to my heart this morning. I truly do desire "to purposefully read, purposefully listen and passionately pursue the awesome, mighty, Holy Word of God". I am reading some Holocaust books lately and find that those Christians who were locked up for harboring Jews either were able to sneak a piece of the Bible in to the camp like Corrie ten Boom or they held the Word in their hearts. To not have God's Word physically would leave many of us wanting and wishing, wouldn't it? May we be passionate in our pursuit of His precious Word and treat It as that ... precious!
loving you, ~ linda