ODJ: feast or famine

November 20, 2013 

READ: Amos 8:11-14 

Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord’s word (v.13).

You can walk into a Christian bookshop today and find rows and rows of books on the shelves. And without stepping into a church, you can listen to thousands of podcasts and sermons online. The massive amount of biblical resources available at our fingertips is astounding. So, is it possible during this age to experience a famine of God’s Word? Do we need to heed the warning for the prophet Amos (8:11) or was that relevant only for ancient Israel?

Answering these questions is critical because the consequences for ignoring God’s Word are devastating. Essentially God has said, “If you keep shutting Me out, eventually I’ll turn silent. When that day happens, you’ll understand that ‘people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord’ ” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

God’s Word provides spiritual nourishment and refreshment. When it is unavailable, even the young, strong and beautiful will languish from spiritual malnutrition (Amos 8:13). The warning through Amos came because of Israel’s complacency, idolatry and oppression of the poor. Are we guilty of that today?

It’s helpful to note that Jesus said something similar to His disciples. He taught, “To those who listen to My teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them” (Matthew 13:12).

This doesn’t mean that God will remove all copies of the Bible from us, but that when we seek help, advice or comfort from Him, we will not get it. The only way to avoid this famine is to feast on His Word and obey it. — Poh Fang Chia