January 21, 2007
Spiritual Famine
READ: 1 Peter 2:1-10
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. —Amos 8:11
In the novel No Blade of Grass, a destructive virus attacks the grasses of the world. Not just the grass in lawns but all grasses, including wheat, barley, rye, oats, and rice. In a matter of months, the world is plunged into famine and its brutal companion, violence. People begin by fighting, then killing, for food.
The novel depicts a scene that has been lived out in the real world in recent famines and is terrifying when seen on TV news networks. Yet I can only imagine what it’s like.
The prophet Amos spoke of a different kind of famine. He called it a famine of “hearing the words of the Lord” (8:11). While a lack of food can lead to disease and death, a famine of the Word can produce eternal consequences. Without access to God’s Word, we lack wisdom for life and the message of eternal life in Christ. As Christians, we need “the pure milk of the Word, that [we] may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). We can identify with the prophet when he said, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jer. 15:16).
The world is starving for the knowledge of the God who can satisfy the needs of the human heart. Let’s help fill their hearts by sharing His Word.
To look in Your Word each day;
Help us to hide its truths in our heart,
Lest from His path our feet would stray. —Bosch
