Well, we are going to be holding off on services for at least the next two weeks due to the Coronavirus that is running through the United States. I didn’t really want to do it but with the governor’s order and the fact that the great majority of our congregation will not be there…well, it just makes sense.
So, I decided that I will be writing a short epistle to all the saints who care to read, maybe it will be worthwhile for someone. I hope to use this as a means to edify and admonish us all during these times of uncertainty. But most importantly, to bring the most glory to God as my finite mind can, to exalt Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to the highest of heavens and to call all Christians to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and to be bearers of His fruit within us.
So, here goes…
The Corona Letters, 4/3/2020:
“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 (author’s emphasis)
What a thing for God’s people to hear. I wonder, did it break anyone’s heart? These people had known famine of bread, they had known what it was to have physical thirst. Think back to the exodus. Or how about in the days of Ruth.
I think that is something that most who will read this have never known or probably will. True hunger and true thirst. I complain just when my food takes a little long to come while sitting in a restaurant, or my wife takes a little longer in preparing dinner at home. But, in many places, even right here in our own country, there are children that go to bed hungry every night. There are who those are legitimately homeless, through no fault of their own, who’s only meals come from a dumpster or the handouts of kind people. Imagine not having a cup of cold fresh water.
Oh, listen, people will get all sorts of fired up about world hunger. They will petition governments and kings and queens, they will want taxes increased and for people to give from their own generous wallets and really we should all be doing our part to help feed the poor and hungry, those less fortunate.
But, that’s not what Amos is talking about here. What he is talking about is something that should terrify the children of God; a famine of not hearing the words of the Lord.
His people had wandered far from Him. They had embraced other gods. A wicked and lost generation they were and deserving of the wrath of a holy and righteous God. And now they would not hear from him anymore. There would be silence.
Oh, how I hope that the Bride of Christ ever hungers for the Word of the Lord. I hope that we never feel satisfied with how much we have of God’s Word in our lives. There are some Christians in persecuted parts of the world who memorize entire chapters and books of The Bible because they are so hungry for it and it is a most precious bread for their existence, yeah, they would even trade their food to have the Word of God.
Yet here we are, hungering and not even realizing it. Hungering with plates full of God’s goodness right in front of us, found in His precious Word.
How many Bibles sit at this moment, dusty on a shelf or night stand? How many people, even without the threat of Coronavirus, would rather sleep in on a Sunday morning, be to be busy on Sunday nights with football games on TV and Wednesday nights, well, just too tired to go to church where the Word of God is faithfully, preached, taught and read?
This Coronavirus has a purpose. Maybe it is for the church to come back from the lands of famine of God’s Word. Amos goes on to describe the people of God: “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...”
Oh God, Please bring us to repentance so this is not found to be true of us. Oh God, bring conviction upon your children so that we, of all people, run to embrace with passion and zeal the proclaimed Word from your heart, with obedience and faithfulness.
I don’t know about you, but I want to find myself embracing the Word of God over the next couple of weeks. I want my heart to be revived and empowered to listen to all that the living God has for me to come to know during this time.
Soli Deo Gloria
Pastor Rob
