Amos 8:11-12

Amos 8:11-12 (ESV): “11  “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. 12  They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.”

The most detrimental thing that can happen to a person is losing the desire to hear the Word of God. That is the greatest judgment upon mankind, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ (Rom. 10:17).

The Lord speaks through Amos about a coming famine in Israel—not a famine of bread or water, but of the Word of the Lord. The issue wasn’t the availability of God’s Word, but the appetite for it. The hearts of the people had grown dull; they no longer wanted the truth. And so the Lord would allow a famine within the hearts of those who refused to hear.

Do you have a desire to hear God’s Word? If not, delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4). Don’t harden your heart—let the Lord change it as you press in to Him. Take your heart before the Lord today and ask Him to wash it and give you an insatiable desire for His Word, lest you find a famine within just like Israel. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23).

Father, examine our hearts and show us if we are dull of hearing. Put within us a deep need to be hearers and doers of Your Word. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.