I had a dear American friend on the Skype.  He started by saying, “I don´t want to be dogmatic about it, but I have a thought…”  Then he shared with me a thought from the word of God that had enlightened him anew.  He is now 88.  So refreshing.

I sometimes think of an old aunt who used to give me a ring once in a while.  She usually said, “I have a word for you…”   It was often one I just needed.  She was sick , on medications really, and yet her sharing God´s word with me was “healthy” enough.  Again very refreshing.

Phone calls like that are rare.  But they may still  happen, though not so often.  “The word of God was rare in those days, there was no widespread revelation…”  (1 Sam. 3:1).  We face days like that now.

I was once at a lovable, Christian party on the west coast of Norway.  A  woman  whispered to me, “Don´t you have a word for us?  We´re hungry for God´s word!”  This is not an everyday occurrence, sad to say.

We hunger for what Am.7:11 says,  “Behold, the days are coming”, says the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, not a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord…”.

A friend made this bold statement, “You don´t love Jesus more than you love His word!”  He was biblical.  For the Bible speaks about desiring “the pure milk of the word” (1 Pet. 2:2). That same friend once noticed how sad I was at a certain time as a young believer.  He made this diagnosis, “I think you´re just hungry!”

He was right.  That desperate hunger for the word of God is a healthy hunger.  Surrogate meals won´t do.  Start making your own Bible “translation” by letting the Holy Spirit interpret your daily Bible reading.  You will never find a better “translation”.

Dec. 12, 2013 – jn