Hungry

“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 hearing the words of the Lord. 
¹² People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it. Amos 8:11-12

These are sobering verses to say the very least. They're also the verses that Rev. James Weller shared with our church last night when he came to share about his work with M.R.E.E. (ministry to Russia and Eastern Europe). He shared that at one time Bibles were banned and burned in Russia, during the days of Communism, but that now the Russian government is allowing Bibles to be in schools and for the children to be taught from them. 

There is a great hunger for the Word of the Lord in Russia and Eastern Europe because they had had a famine for it for so long. Government officials, who once persecuted Christians, are now requesting that the Bible be available to all. 

Can you just imagine how wonderful that would be in Canada? At Christmas time I was told by a parent that her child was told in school that 'Jesus has nothing to do with Christmas'! School plays at Christmas time are no longer able to have a nativity scene because it might offend someone. Not only is the Bible not taught in our school system but many schools will no longer let the Gideons distribute Bibles to grade five students as they have for many years.  

Our country, Canada, is quickly running away from the Word of the Lord. What's next? Will we come to a point, like Russia once did, where we will burn our Bibles? God, and His Word, are no longer priorities in many people's lives, including church going people. 

What? Do you think I've got it wrong? If you do, take a count of how many people are in attendance on a prayer night or on a Bible study night, in many churches. Oh, sure most 'Christians' will go to church on a Sunday, but is God still a priority on Bible study night? We have over 75 people who call our church their church home, yet only 21 came to hear an anointed man of God share his missionary story last night. 

The Word of God tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 that the day of the Lord will not come until there has been a great 'falling away'. Are we not seeing that now, in our nation? People who were once on fire for God no longer read His Word, no longer attend His church. I believe that we are seeing a great falling away. 

What will it take for God's people to once more make Him a priority in their lives? What will it take for them to be hungry for Him again? Will it take our government making the final step to stamp out the Bible by public burnings of it? Will it take Christians being rounded up and killed for their faith? What will it take? 

God is still moving and souls are being saved by the thousands in other parts of the world, the parts where at one time owning a Bible was an illegal act; where the church saw great persecution. I pray we don't have to get to that point before people realize that we all need to put God first in our life, but I am afraid that unless the people get really hungry for the things of God, that's where we are headed. 

We sing a little chorus at church which goes like this:

"Lord I'm hungry for a mighty move of God
Lord I'm thirsty pour out your Holy Ghost
Lord I want to see the hand of God
move mightily inside of me
Lord I'm hungry for a mighty move of God.

I love this chorus and I make it my prayer. I'm hungry now to see God move in our midst. I'm hungry to see God change lives and see wonderful things happen in His name. Lord I'm hungry. But we, as a church, as a nation, have to be hungry. We have to see God first in our lives. We have to have our priorities readjusted. 

Maybe our government will never actually burn Bibles, but it is slowly but surely moving away from God. Unfortunately, many believers are also slowly but surely moving away from God. They pay Him lip service on Sunday but don't allow Him to have a part of their life the rest of the week. We need to once more be hungry for God and His Word. Dare we pray: Lord, no matter what it takes, make us hungry for You? I dare and I do.