Where’s the Hunger?

 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Matthew 5:6

 

There are plenty of places to find people literally starving to death in this world. Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, and many other places, have millions that go to bed hungry every night. Many articles state “poverty” as the cause.  The reasons for the poverty range from war to famine, coupled with poor food distribution systems, and unethical governments.

Starvation has become a word many are familiar with around the world. Interestingly, it is not because there is not enough food produced. According to several articles I read, there’s plenty of food.  Many people just don’t have enough money to buy it.

A friend was recently telling me about a situation she is facing with other Christians. She is trying to speak the truth of scriptures about some things they used to agree were sin. Now, they are rejecting the truth as if what she’s telling them is my friend’s “suggestion,” rather than God’s Law.

(For the record, if the Bible called a thought, word, or deed sin a few years ago; it still does. We are not to add or subtract from the Word of God.)

As she spoke, I was thinking that, unlike the millions hungry for physical food,  there’s very little hunger for God’s Word (our spiritual food) (Matthew 4:4).

In Acts 17, the Bible gives us an example of people who were hungry for God’s Word. Paul and Silas were sent to Berea to flee from attacks against them for preaching about Christ in Thessalonica.

When they got there, they went to the synagogue to teach. Acts 17:11 describes the Bereans’ reaction to their teaching like this: Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

It scares me that so many in our culture are quick to reject the Word of God without ever checking to find out if it’s true. Physical hunger, where there is plenty of food but few resources to purchase it, is different. People face real obstacles to getting food.

Spiritually, there are no obstacles. There is an abundance of the real Word of God available in this nation. It is easy to get and cheap, if not free. We have no excuse for not trying to understand what God’s Law says and why we should follow it.

We need to pick up God’s Word and check what others tell us, even our pastors.

God has been gracious to the U.S., slow to anger, and abounding in His steadfast love (Psalm 103:8).  He is exactly as the Bible describes Him.

In Amos 8:11, God makes a promise to those who were refusing to listen to His Word. He said, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when 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.”

Will it take a famine of the Word of God to make people want what He has offered us in His Book? It teaches us all we need to know about Him and His Law. We do not need to be starved of His nourishment.