Amos 8:11 says
"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD."
This was meant to be a terrible thing. God wasn't saying this to cheer everyone up. He's saying that this kind of famine is even worse than a famine of food and water. There are times when I wonder how we'd feel if God said that to us, or how I'd feel if God said that to me. We have God's words written down for us, right there whenever we want to hear them, but we don't realize how valuable they are and so we tend to neglect them.
Do you? How often do you read your Bible? What's your motive when you do read it?
Carrying on the parallel God draws in Amos 8, we can say that God's words are sustaining. They're like food and water, only more life giving. We're meant to drink deeply on them and feast on them.
Have you ever experienced a thirst or hunger for God's words? When you read them, are you drinking deeply and feasting, or are the words dry and bland to you? If it's the latter, why do you think that is?
Think about the parallel between God's words, and food and water. Think about how we can approach food and water. We can savor it. We can enjoy it. It satisfies our appetites. We digest it and it provides nutrients that give us strength, that help up grow.
As Psalm 34:8 says: "Taste and see that the Lord is good!"
Posted on
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
by Chris Branscome