A Famine of Hearing

# 46 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 3:1 Then the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. (1 Sam 3:1) Even as Samuel served dutifully, we hear the somber word that in those days “the word of the Lord was rare and there was no widespread revelation.” Why? What gives? The revelation of God was available to the priests and the people in the form of the writings of Moses as found in the Pentateuch or what we know as the first five books of the Old Testament. They had the Word of God! God's Word was (like today) perfectly preserved and ever near. Romans 10:8 says, "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart". The nearness of the Word of God is never the issue. The issue is the HEARING of the Word of God. I remember attending church sporadically in my prodigal years and the sermons and liturgy would just bounce off my ears, but when, by God's grace I came back to the faith, those same words quickened my spirit, bringing conviction, peace, and joy! What changed? Only my ability to hear. Ro 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. God's revelation finally broke through my hardened heart, and His Word was no longer “rare” to me. The period of spiritual deafness in my life was brought on by my persistent resistance to His grace. When we choose to resist God's grace and ignore God's Word we invite spiritual deafness, just as the people did in the days of Amos. These people ignored the poor and were caught up in materialism, and spiritual famine followed. Am 8:11 says "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That 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. Sound familiar? Then take heed, stop resisting the Holy Spirit lest it happen to you!