“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” ~Amos 8:11,12.

What a paradox - we have plenty to eat in America and yet we have a famine when it comes to God’s Word! Look around you at the world on the first day of the week; you will see many people who have chosen anything but feasting on the Word of God. It is not much better in churches. Those who profess to follow the Bible no longer “endure” sound doctrine, but instead listen to teachers who scratch their itching ears. If they do have a “Bible study”, you will more often than not find either the study of what some man says about the Bible, or a rambling discussion of personal feelings on a current topic. Why do men settle for crumbs when a feast can be prepared from His Holy Word?

In all the history of the church, there have been some who have abided by the Word of God, and many who have actually opposed it. Here is a startling statement from the Council of Toulouse in 1229: (A council with no business being held in the first place because the Bible is our only guide, not men.)

“We forbid also the permitting of the laity the books of the Old and New Testament in the common tongue.”

Contrast this unholy spirit with the statement of Desiderius Erasmus in the preface to his Latin version of the New Testament (about 1514):

“I would have the weakest woman read the Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul... I would have those words translated into all languages, so that not only Scots and Irishmen, but Turks and Saracens might read them. I long for the plowboy to sing them to himself as he follows the plow, the weaver to hum them to the tune of his shuttle, the traveler to beguile with them the dullness of his journey... Other studies we may regret having undertaken, but happy is the man upon whom death comes when he is engaged in these. These sacred words give you the very image of Christ speaking, healing, dying, rising again, and make him so present, that were he before your very eyes you would not more truly see Him!”

Faithful men, of whom this world was not worthy, have given up their lives because they believed the word of God which says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."  Deuteronomy. 8:3,4; Matt. 4:4) Their holy ambition was to enable all men to have access to the life-giving, eternal Word of God, rather than allowing a few fallible men to tell us what it says. Brothers were burned at the stake so that you and I might live by the Word of God!

We should choose sides today - do we want to be numbered with the ones who feast on God’s Word, or with the ones who starve themselves and others? Choose Life. Choose the incorruptible Word of God!