A Self Imposed Famine

Matthew 4:4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Bread provides physical life. The Words of God provide spiritual and eternal life.

John 6:63: It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Amos 8:11: Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

Everything that has gone wrong in my life was because I did not study and know the Bible and I did not believe and obey it. Everything that has gone wrong in your life has gone wrong for those same reasons. Everything that has gone wrong for nations has gone wrong for the same reasons. When men impose a famine for the words of the Lord upon themselves there is great danger that that famine will become judgmental. Many will seek the Words of the Lord too late. They shall run to and fro to seek it and shall not find it. It is first a self-imposed famine and then it becomes a judgment of God. A famine for food can only kill our bodies. A famine for the word of the Lord can destroy our souls. If we continue to neglect the Bible there is a great possibility that, at some point, we will be unable to find it. We also impose this famine upon ourselves by avoiding Biblical Pastors, teachers and churches.

Psalms 119:11: Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Without the Bible we will sin.

Psalms 119:105: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Without the Bible we will be like unguided missiles.

1 Peter 2:2: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Multitudes in our world today suffer from spiritual anorexia.

Psalms 50:17: Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. 18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. 19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. 20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother*s son. 21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. 22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

More than anything else we might do wrong, neglecting the Bible is one of the most dangerous. We may not be able to end a famine for food but if we own a Bible we can end the famine of hearing the words of the Lord. We can be like Job.

Job 23:12: Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Care to discuss Self Imposed Famine, A with Ron?

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