October 23, 2008
Famine?
I
was having trouble making up my mind what I wanted to eat. I looked through the
refrigerator, then to the freezer and then back to the fridge. I couldn’t
decide what to eat so I decided to go out and eat. I drove by one restaurant
after another and still couldn’t decide. After all of this I ended up back at
home making a casserole. Here I was in the midst of all this and couldn’t
decide or make a decision.
It
was like a famine in the midst of plenty.
The
Bible warns of a famine to come through the prophet Amos.
"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. Men will stagger from sea to sea and
wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not
find it.
Amos 8:11-12 NIV
That
time of famine is nearly on us, if it isn't already.
People
are spiritually hungry. The growth of cults, the occult and the new age movement
are proof of that. Many have Bibles in their homes, but they don't read them. Charles
spurgeon said, “There is enough dust on the Bibles in peoples’ homes to
write eternal damnation.” That should wake you up! Have you looked on your
bookshelf lately?
Some
walk in the doors of Christian churches and hear all kinds of lies being taught
as truth. They hear the Bible isn't true, that Jesus isn't the only way or that
God will make everyone materially wealthy. They hear lies like it is okay to sin
or that God doesn't really mean that homosexuality or adultery is a sin.
Surrounded
by the nourishment offered by God's Word, people are perishing of spiritual
hunger.
We're
called to take nourishment out to these starving men and women.
Therefore
go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age."
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV [emphasis mine]
You
may not know all the Bible from cover to cover. You might not be a theologian or
a pastor. You might be a baby Christian. Even baby Christians have something a
starving world needs, they have Jesus. Share what you do know. Learn more to
keep sharing.
Your
family, your friends, your neighbors and your coworkers are starving. Will you
share with them the crusts of bread you have?
Until
next time, may we all offer what we know and have to a spiritually hungry world
who is starving in the midst of plenty.
Be
blessed
Darrel
Mason