Ending Your Famine

Ending Your Famine

Luke 15: 16-17 NKJV
 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Matthew 4:4 NKJV
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

   The Prodigal Son, as we know him as, was the son of a rich man.  We, as Christians, are the sons (and daughters) of a rich God.  The Prodigal’s father would never have knowingly allowed his son to physically starve.  God the Father will never willingly allow us to spiritually starve.  The Prodigal’s father would have felt mortified to know his son was hanging around a pig sty and envious of the pig’s food.  God the Father must feel shame that we, His children, hang around sin and look with envy at what we see.  The Prodigal’s father would gladly have given his son food that was so much better than the pods that the swine were feeding on.  God the Father wants to feed us on His Word and give us His Righteousness which is so much better than the sin and degradation we allow in our lives.
   The famine of God’s Word in our society is a self-inflicted condition.  We allow this famine to happen to ourselves and to our families and, much like the Prodigal Son, we would rather go our own way and do our own thing and turn our back on our Father who we see as “old-fashioned” and “restrictive.”  Reading the Bible makes most people feel uncomfortable.  We see what God wants of us and know we’re miles from where we should be.  Because of this, many people simply stop reading the Bible.
2 Kings 6:25 NKJV
And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.
By today’s monetary measurements, a shekel of silver would be between $8.00 and $16.00.  So the head of a donkey sold for at least $640. A half pint of dove droppings sold for at least $40.  Now THAT’S a famine.  People so hungry for food they’ll eat donkey’s heads and dove poop.  But it’s not surprising, because when one is hungry enough they’ll eat most anything.
   When people reject God’s Word, it is truly appalling what they’ll believe.  People in the midst of a self-inflicted famine will swallow whatever appeals to their ears.  They want to be told there are no consequences for their sins.  They want to be told they won’t suffer eternal separation from God for living sinful lives.  They want to hear that being good is OK and even if they’re not good it’s still OK.  And there are churches they can go to and hear that and Pastors who’ll preach that to them.  The answer to your worries is not smooth talking preachers and comfortable churches.  The answer is God’s Word.  The answer is Jesus’ blood and resurrection.  The answer is God’s grace.  If our churches would all teach God’s Word, it would make a huge and noticeable difference in our country.
   If you go to a church that preaches a watered-down Gospel, shame on you.  If you listen to a preacher who makes you feel good, you’re listening to the wrong one.  You want a Pastor who preaches the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  They will hurt your feelings at times and make you uncomfortable, but you’ll be growing and learning and becoming mature in God.
“But when he came to himself”
   One day, the starving Prodigal looked at what he wanted to eat and it disgusted him, and he came to himself.  This means he focused his mind on where he was and what he was doing and saw the condition of his life and how far he had fallen since leaving his father’s house.  He knew that the lowest servant of his father ate better food than swine food.  He wanted to go home, but felt unworthy because he had already cashed in on his son-ship.  So he decided to offer himself as a servant.  He just wanted to go home, and he was willing to go under any conditions necessary.  So he went back.  His father was still in the same place, it had been he, himself, who had wandered away.
   I used to say we needed more Christians to leave the milk of the Word and get into the meat of God’s Word.  Today, I’d like more Christians to get back to the Word, even if it’s only the milk of the Word.  Leave the slop of this world alone.  Why are the pods that are thrown to the swine so attractive to us?  Why do we long to eat garbage and fill our mental bellies with this world’s poison?   We’re so attracted to this slop we forget what real food tastes like.  I love to study God’s Word because it’s a challenge that makes me think and grow.  I’ve changed my view of Gospel truths over my lifetime as I’ve grown and learned more.  This is normal.  Healthy people grow.  If you stay the same year after year you’re not growing, you’re abnormal and your growth is stunted.  You will not grow; indeed you will not be able to grow while feeding on the slop the enemy throws to the world.  There is no nourishment there so turn away from it!
   Don’t starve to death in the midst of so much bounty!  Read the Word!  Snippets and devotionals are a good start, but read chapters and whole books and fill your mind with His Words.  When we all get to Heaven and meet up with Zephaniah and Obadiah, I can tell them I read their books.  Can you?  You will never know what they have to say to you until you dig in and study what they say.
I challenge everyone to make the commitment not to neglect the Word of God!  Feast daily on that Word which can save your souls!  End the famine in your life.

Stephen Cram                            September 23, 2012                Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8