Are You Thirsty?

On the heels of our Thanksgiving over-indulgence, it’s hard to imagine that there is an unprecedented drought and famine coming, but there is, and hundreds of millions of unassuming people are in danger of dying from thirst and starvation.

This drought is coming, not because of climate change, but because it is exactly what we want. What!? We want this? Yes, we do; and because God so often gives us what we want, it is coming probably sooner than we realize.

We are thirsty and we need the pure word of God to restore and refresh our spirits and souls. We are hungry and we need the true Word of God to sustain us. However, God’s Word is often the last place we turn when we are in distress, or even when we are rejoicing. Why is that? Are we afraid of what he might say?

We have access to the Word of God everywhere, but we are not reading it. D.A. Carson says that there are “so many Bibles – and so little thoughtful reading of them. The next stage is the Bible as source of proof texts; the stage after that is the Bible as a quaint relic; the next, the Bible as antiquarian magic; the next, implacable ignorance – and all the while, a growing hunger for something wise, something stable, something intelligent, something prophetic, something true. And the hunger is not satisfied.”

 In what stage are you?

This famine and drought of the pure Word of God shouldn’t be unexpected, the Bible says … “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 the hearing the words of the Lord.”  – Amos 8: 11 NIV

Why would God send a famine, a drought, of hearing his Word? Because we don’t like it; because we would rather indulge ourselves in religious activities than in developing a relationship with the one true God. We don’t want to submit to his Word. We don’t even want to hear it.

Do we really prefer muddling our way through life with empty philosophies rather than opening, studying, and applying God’s Word?

The reality is, we are thirsty for truth so we go to Bible studies, only we don’t open our Bibles. We read books that other people have written, we share our feelings in our small groups and we exchange therapy ideas. Our thirst for deeper understanding is not quenched.

We are thirsty for wisdom so we listen to televangelists and radio shows, only we never weigh their words against the Word of God. We listen and take in their philosophies, we devour their books, we share their cute memes with our friends on social media, and we try to live as they tell us to. Our thirst for hope is not satisfied.

We are thirsty for understanding of the world around us so we watch endless twenty-four hour news channels. We try to make sense of politics and we align with those who think like us, but there is just so much chaos and anger. Our thirst for peace goes unmet.

We are thirsty for stability in our homes and families so we turn to bloggers and counselors and try to glean the perfect formula to raise successful children and bond with our spouses. We practice every new fad and still there is heartache. Our thirst for love seems unending.

Going to church, listening to other people, and practicing holiness will not quench our thirst. There is one thing we thirst for, and only one thing will satisfy us: God.

Is the deep ache in our souls a thirst to know God? Yes. Will we die of thirst without him? Yes. Will we starve without his True Word? Yes. The heartache is that if we hold out too long, there will come a day of drought and famine.

Are you thirsting for something wise, something stable, something intelligent, something prophetic, something true? Your thirst will be satisfied in God as you find him in the Bible; as you hear him speak to you through his written Word. Will you open the Bible and read it.

Do you go to a church where the Bible is open and taught every single Sunday? Does your Bible study dig deep into God’s Word or someone else’s? Do your worship songs exalt and glorify God or your own experiences and emotions?

If you are hungry and thirsty, God’s Word will refresh you, invigorate you, and satisfy your hunger and thirst. Is 2017 your year to read the Bible? All of it?

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12 NIV

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, – 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV

If you don’t have an appetite, or a thirst, for the pure Word of God would you ask God to give you both. And then will you go to the only One who can satisfy your deepest desire?