LEARNING DAILY

 

Amos 8:11, “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.”

 

I am going to do something different today. While studying the book of Amos I found the following in the David Jeremiah Study Bible. I am quoting it as it is written in there. This Bible was written in 2013 and the following seems to be even more appropriate for2022!

 

“This particular famine was a problem of the ears, not the stomach. We may well be in the early stages of a “hearing famine” in our generation.

 

For centuries, God’s Word has been at the center of church preaching. Today, questioning scriptural authority is in vogue, even in some major faith communities. Popular speakers advocate processing God’s Word through cultural filters rather than the other way around.

 

Christians also once understood that we don’t stand in judgment of the Bible; it stands in judgment of us. But many today are airbrushing the Word of God to make it palatable to those who want spirituality that costs nothing. Instead of being conformed to the image of Christ, we want to conform His image, and everything else in Scripture, to our sad conditions.

 

Thirty years ago, people were saying, “if it feels good, do it.” Today we are more subtle. We say, “If it sounds good, believe it.” When we try to figure out how on earth we can live with confidence in this crazy, chaotic world, we ought to be running to the Bible and not from it.

 

The sad and tragic fact is that when people turn their backs on God and His Word, He will sometimes turn His back on them, giving them over to their willful sin (Romans 1:18-32). This happened in Amos’ day, when God withdrew His prophetic revelation from those who mistreated and rejected His prophets.

 

People who disregard the Bible may get what they want someday; a society where the Bible is no longer read or proclaimed and where they can freely sin without Scripture confronting their conscience. But they may get more than they bargained for. A society without the moral compass of Scripture will self-destruct because of moral decay and decadence.”

 

Are we at this point as the author of this suggests? Perhaps. Statistics have shown that fewer and fewer people, including Christians have knowledge about what is in the Bible. People are too busy to read and study the Bible, believe the Bible is no longer relevant and are trying to remove from every facet of society. Instead, foolishness is being pushed on us from all directions. I fear the author’s words, “If it sounds good, believe it”, are so true. I do not have to remind you of this craziness – you know. Their idea is to remove God’s Word in order to justify sin and continue to do as they please.

 

I encourage you to stay in God’s Word daily so there is no doubt about how you need to think, talk and act as you walk on the narrow way into eternity in God’s kingdom!