Greetings from New Orleans, where I’ve come for some church meetings. “By meetings you shall be saved” sometimes seems to be our guiding verse. At any rate, I’m in a very nice room with a great view, but when I opened the bedside drawer, I found no Bible. I always carry my Greek Bible with me but when I’m in hotels and want English, I depend upon the Gideons. I searched every drawer in the room; no Bible! It reminded me of the prophet Amos.
“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” (Amos 8:11).
How would God send a famine of His Word? Would God rapture all print Bibles and put malware into Bible programs? He could, but Amos is talking about “hearing the words of the Lord.” In his day most people couldn’t read; common literacy is relatively new. It was by hearing the words of the Torah, the writings and prophets that people received the Word. Today we can hear and read, no famine, abundant grace.
Because people didn’t have the Word in heart and life, Amos predicted destruction. “Behold, the days are coming,” when the Word will not be heard. National disaster or not, the days are coming for each of us when we can’t get up and look for a Bible, can’t go online as I did, can’t go to church to hear the Word. One thing I miss in today’s institutional church, and there are many, is hearing this phrase, “the time of grace.” When life narrows down, the only Word I’ll have is the Word in my heart. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The time of grace is fleeting.
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