Daily Devotional For Monday, June 22, 2026
Good morning and good day Southside! Our devotional reading for today comes from Amos 8:11-14:
“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. (12) People 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. (13) Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the LORD’s word. (14) 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” (NLT).
This is one of the most depressing passages in Scripture to me. It depicts people seeking the Lord and His Word and not finding it. We are so blessed today to have God’s Word. We have Bibles on coffee tables, next to our nightstands, in our cars and in our churches. We have God’s Word, but does it have us? This passage’s context is harvest time. During this time young people would be in the fields to harvest crops and often find a romantic connection. After the harvest, these young people would walk to worship sites to get a word from the Lord.
This will not be a famine of physical food, but a famine of spiritual food. Jesus knew when He was being tempted that God’s bread is the best bread to deal with temptation (Matt. 4:1-4). In this passage Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to refute the devil. Moses, Amos and Jesus know that God’s word gave physical life (Gen. 1-2). They also knew that God’s word gives spiritual and moral strength to those who hear it and obey it.
Verse 12 implies that people were running looking for God’s Word, only to staffer from faint in trying to find it. They are desperate to get God’s word as their nation and culture crumbles around them (Amos 8:7-10). In verse 13, if young people are fainting and falling in their attempt to get God’s word, then the old and the sick have no chance at all. This seems to be the totally opposite promised in Isaiah 40:27-31. So, why can’t people find the word of the Lord?
They are seeking God’s word in places where people worship false gods. These seeking people have wandered far and wide. Samaria is in the middle of the land, Dan is in the north, and Beersheba is in the south. This verse shows that people were worshiping other gods in all these places, or perhaps worshiping perverted versions of God there. Either way, these poor seekers will never find God’s word in such venues. Rather they shall faint and fall “and never rise again” (vs. 14b).
This is so sad because these people, having turned to lies and false beliefs about God, now do not even know where to find the truth – God’s truth. Amos was saying that once God’s truth had been driven out of the land, there was no place anyone could go in the land and find it. We live in a culture where theology has become subjective. Everyone decides for himself who is God and what is God’s word. We hear God is all loving, tolerant, forgiving, compassionate, gracious and doesn’t really care what your lifestyle is as long as you are a “good” person. LIES!
In the Amos passage we may be encouraged at the desperation these young people have for God’s Word, but desperation is not enough to find it and get. They are looking “for love in all the wrong places.” If you walk into a lion’s den, you do not expect to really find a lamb. This means that we must go to the only correct source for God’s truth – the Bible. Any other source is a lie, fabrication and a diversion from the truth. This passage affirms there comes a time when the time to repent has run out.
Reflection Assignment: What if in one second God removed every single copy of the Bible in the world from this planet? What would you do? How would you respond? Where would you go to find God’s word? Let’s look at this differently. How desperate are you to read and apply God’s word to your life?
Scripture To Meditate On: John 6:50-51a, “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. (51) I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, help me to hunger for Your word. Please forgive me when I neglect to digest Your word. Please forgive me when I turn to a false “word” for guidance rather than the only truth there is – Your word. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly