Introduction
The Bible tells us that Enoch walked with God; the Bible tells us that Noah walked with God. These walks with God were more God talks- where God talked to them, and these men took to heart what God was telling them. We know that to be the case because Enoch as result of those walks named his first-born son, Methuselah. Methuselah means when he is gone then comes the flood. Enoch would not have known anything about a flood unless God revealed it to him in those walks. It had never rained in those days; much less flooded. Noah would not have known to build an ark unless God revealed it to him in those walks. Noah never went to nautical building school so he would not have known that 450 feet long, 75 feet high, and 45 feet high was the perfect dimensions to allow the ark to float after the flood waters came up. Little would Noah know that further generations would build great ships using those same proportions that God gave Noah. God had to reveal that to Noah in those walks. So, I think it is a fair statement to say that both Enoch and Noah had a hunger for God’s Word. And we who are the end time Christians on this side of the cross, preparing for Christ eminent return, should also have that same kind of hunger for God’s Word that Enoch and Noah had.
And to be honest, I have heard preachers throw around the term “we must have a hunger for God’s Word”. But what does that really mean? I don’t believe the average person in the pew really understands what that means because for the longest I didn’t know what it meant. So, I went looking in God’s Word for the answer because this Bible is a book of answers. And I found it in the Book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah lived after the flood and he lived before the cross and so he lived in between the first and second end times. But to Jeremiah, it had to feel like he was living in the end times. He was a prophet to southern kingdom of Israel warning the people to turn back to God before it was too late or life as they knew it was going to change. They were going to go from being a free people to people held under the captivity of the Babylonians. Can you see how it would make you feel like this was your end time if one day you are free and the next day you have to take orders from your captors? I think that is how Jeremiah felt. And it is during this time, he pens what it means to be hungry for the Word of God. So, let’s take a look at it in Jeremiah 15:16. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Scripture
Jeremiah 15:16 (NKJV)
16 Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.
Points
#1
HUNGER PEOPLE DO MORE THAN CARRY THEIR BIBLE TO CHURCH, OR SIT THEIR BIBLE ON THE COUNTER AT HOME, THEY DISCOVER THE BIBLE FOR THEIR LIFE. AND WHEN YOU DO THAT, IT IS AN AMAZING DISCOVERY!
Jeremiah says, “your words were found.” Picture what is going on. God’s Word is not lost; Jeremiah is not saying someone misplaced it. We know that because if you read the Book of Jeremiah, God is constantly sharing His Word with Jeremiah. It is there! But Jeremiah was so busy proclaiming God’s Word to a rebellious Israel that He did not take the time to discover God’s Word for Himself.
I am glad that you come to church on Sunday, and I want you to keep coming. But I got to tell you the truth, your relationship with God will not grow in leaps and bounds until you pick up your Bible and you discover the Bible for your life.
2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
It did not say have your preacher study and show himself approved, even though he should; it did not say have your Sunday School teacher study and show himself approved, even though he should. It says for you to study and show yourself approved, and you should.
Coming to church on Sunday and maybe Wednesday night and listening to the sermon, is like getting the Cliff’s notes of the Bible. I got to tell you when I was in school, I loved that guy, Cliff. He got me out of a lot of jams by doing the work for me. I remember one year in high school my English teacher assigned the class to read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and write a book report. I went to the bookstore to buy the book and almost fainted when I saw how thick that book was. That Charles Dickens obviously liked to put pen to paper. So, while I was there, I looked for my buddy Cliff and thankfully he read it and put his results into a much smaller version. The problem was I only got what I needed to write my book report; old Cliff got to enjoy that great literary masterpiece. He did the work; I didn’t.
God says you study yourself; that is when God’s Word comes alive for you.
Here are the church, we give out each mouth Open Windows and our Daily Bread. Both are great devotionals. But they are sort of like those Cliff notes. They have their purpose, but they never were intended to replace your study of the Bible. They are wonderful if you use them as a supplement to your Bible reading, and not a replacement. It is the Bible that is alive and active; God does not say that about Open Windows or Our Daily Bread.
Hungry Christians study their Bibles.
#2
HUNGRY PEOPLE DO MORE THAN READ THE BIBLE OR MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE, THEY DON’T PUT GOD’S WORD DOWN UNTIL THEY HAVE INTERNALIZED THAT SCRIPTURE FOR THEIR LIFE.
Jeremiah said, I ate it. Before you think there is something wrong with Jeremiah, that he would chew up and eat paper, the word “ate” means consumed and devoured it. He was hungry to take the words off of that page and put them within him. That is the exact thing that God calls us to do in the New Testament.
John 8:31 (NKJV)
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And the word “abide” means to dwell in; make it belong to you.
Jeremiah made the Word belong to him because he knew he needed the Word as he and others were about to be led into captivity. Enoch made the Word belong to him; He named his first-born son after the Word that came to him by God. Noah made the Word belong to him as he put hands and feet to the Word that came to him to build the Ark as instructed by God.
Why would Jeremiah, Enoch and Noah internalize the Word in their lives? Why should we internalize the Word in our lives? The answer is found in Psalm 1.
Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law, he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
To understand the promise, you need to know what meditates means. It is the act of thoughtful deliberation of speaking to oneself. In other words, it means to internalize. And the promise is huge. You will be firmly planted. Enoch and Noah as end time Christians during the first end time had to remain strong in a world God said was corrupted. All the people had corrupted their ways.
Jeremiah had to stand strong while his brothers and sister continued in their disobedience leading the nation to come under Babylonian captivity.
And you and me as Christians living near the second end time, we need to stand firm because the church is going to experience people falling away. That is God’s Word. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 — (NKJV)
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
Hungry people internalize Scripture, so they don’t get mislead into falling away from all that we have in Christ Jesus.
#3
HUNGRY PEOPLE DON’T STUDY GOD’S WORD’S BEGRUDGINGLY OR TO AVOID FEELINGS OF GUILT, THEY DO IT BECAUSE IT BRINGS PURE DELIGHT TO THEIR HEART.
Jeremiah says your Word brought joy or rejoicing to my heart. Think about things that bring joy to your heart today. Your grand babies bring joy to every grandparent’s heart. For me, taking a vacation and going to the mountains brings joy to my heart. For a dad, it might be escorting your daughter up the aisle to the man that she loves so very much that brings pure joy to the dad’s heart. For a church it might be the man or woman, boy or girl that the church has been praying for their salvation and today that person gave their life to the Lord that brings pure joy to the congregation.
On the other side of the coin, begrudgingly we start a new diet, there is no joy in starting a new diet. Begrudgingly we begin an exercise program, there is no joy in starting an exercise program. And I don’t know a single person who says that it brings joy to their heart to write out a check to the I.R. S. on April 15th.
Now think about your Bible studying time- into which one of those two camps does it fall in. Does it bring you pure joy or begrudgingly you read it?
For hungry people it is pure joy.
#4
HUNGRY PEOPLE TAKE PLEASURE IN BEING ASSOCIATED WITH GOD AND NOT THIS WORLD.
Jeremiah says that I am called by your name. My life is tied to Christ. As the end times approaches, the world is going to try to tear you apart from that association with Christ. The world is going to try to rip apart that connection you have with Christ by trying to convince us that this world don’t need Christ. And isn’t that exactly what the world is doing by taking Christ out of everything? And hungry people won’t stand for that because they treasure that connected with Christ more than the world. Those not hungry for God’s Word, set themselves up to love the world more than their association with God. And God’s warning to us: do not love the world.
I hope today that you are a hungry person for the Word of God. Let us pray!
