Is My Faith Malnourished?

Scripture

11“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. 13Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord’s word. Amos 8:11-13

Observation

Amos describes the reality we are all living in right now. Everyone is running everywhere and to everyone expect to the one true source that can actually satisfy the hunger of our hearts and the thirst of our souls- “hearing the words of the Lord.” Look at all these counterfeits… “And those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria—who take oaths in the name of the god of Dan and make vows in the name of the god of Beersheba—they will all fall down, never to rise again.” (Amos 8:14). Jesus provides us with the solution to ending this famine today! Feed yourself! When Jesus was physically hungry after 40 days of fasting he was spiritually full because He had been feeding Himself on God’s Word every day. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Mt. 4:4) This is Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 during His temptation, emphasizing that God's Word is essential spiritual nourishment. “…He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna … to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Later Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry…” (John 6:35). Jesus, the Living Word (John 1:1), declares Himself the bread of life, satisfying eternal hunger. In the next chapter Jesus says,  “…If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink… streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37-38) Jesus, the incarnate Word, invites the spiritually thirsty to drink and be satisfied. This is an invitation to daily intimacy with the written word and living word. Jesus is the only One that can satisfy our hunger and thirst. He’s not offering information, but transformation. So why do we keep going to other sources that leave us hungry and thirsty?

Application

Cyndi has been really in to baking sourdough lately. If fact, she’s usually baking a couple fresh loaves every other day. Her baked goods fill the house with such a delicious fragrance that is very hard to resist. There’s nothing like a fresh slice of sourdough with melted Irish butter to turn any frown upside down. She’s been making so much that we’ve been spreading the joy to family, friends, and neighbors. Though this has been problematic for my diet it makes the idea of eating any other store bought pre-packaged bread an easy “no thanks.” So, why do we continue to pursue the empty calories of constant content the world is serving up when Jesus is ready to meet with us every single day with words of life? We are living in the prophetic fulfillment of Amos 8 in real time. We are malnourished spiritually lacking spiritual maturity as we consume copious amounts of information that never leads to transformation. According to multiple recent studies:

• 🌐 The average person consumes the equivalent of 74 GB of information daily – that's like watching 16 movies every single day (UC San Diego study).

• 📱 We touch our phones over 2,600 times a day (Dscout research).

• 🧠 We are exposed to over 10,000 brand messages daily, yet many can’t recall even one Bible verse.

• 🕒 We spend 7–10 hours a day consuming digital content, but the average Christian spends less than 10 minutes a day in Scripture.

Too many Christians are spiritually starved in an age of digital gluttony. God’s Word is the only content that won’t just entertain you — it will transform you.  Want some proof? Look what happens when we feed ourselves and turn a famine FOR God’s word into feasting ON God’s word:

Consistent Scripture reading—at least four times weekly—makes a measurable difference. The “Power of 4” study (over 100,000 participants, ages 8–80) found dramatic life improvements:

Life Area	Improvement
Loneliness	↓ 30%
Anger issues	↓ 31–32%
Bitterness	↓ 40%
Alcoholism	↓ 57–62%
Premarital sex	↓ 59–68%
Pornography	↓ 59–61%
Spiritual stagnation	↓ 60%
Sharing faith	↑ 200–228%
Discipling others	↑ 230–231%
Scripture memorization	↑ 407%
Giving/generosity	↑ 416%

Gen Z has been raised as digital natives and have been left wanting. According to some recent encouraging stats, they are putting down the phones and picking up actual printed Bibles.

*In the U.S., Bible sales surged 22% through October 2024—rising to 13.7 million copies versus 9.7 million in 2019 

*Among Gen Z (18–27), 21% reported increasing Bible use this year, and 54% say the Bible has changed their lives—up from 50% in 2023 

*In the UK, driven by Gen Z, Bible sales jumped a whopping 87% over the five years to 2024

Charles Spurgeon once said, “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” I can’t wait to see the fruit of God’s Word in the lives of the next generation as it leads “the most anxious and medicated generation” to become the most at peace and on fire generation through Jesus!

Prayer

Jesus, I woke up this morning with a hunger and thirst that only You can satisfy. There were updates from around the world calling for my attention, entertainment promising me an escape from the tension, and copious amounts of diversions to feed on. I know well how each of these have left me empty in the past and yet I still battle to choose Your fresh bread and Your refreshing water over the pre-packaged and pointless. Forgive me for choosing any other source than You. Life Peter I’m declaring, “where else could I go to find the words of life?” I’m ending the famine and feeding myself on Your Word today.