Are You Hungry?

Picture this: You have not eaten all day. It is 4:00 in the afternoon. Your stomach is growling. A friend suggests meeting up at a local buffet restaurant. You immediately agree. When you arrive, all of the food looks and smells amazing! You take three trips to the buffet. Your hunger has been satisfied. Now consider this: you ate lunch at 3:00 in the afternoon. Your friend wants to meet at a buffet restaurant at 4:00, one hour later. You are not hungry at all, but you agree to meet your friend for the sake of the fellowship. When you enter the restaurant, the food is not appealing to you at all because you are not hungry. It is the same restaurant as in the first scenario, so what changed? Your hunger did.

These same scenarios can be applied spiritually also. Just as our physical body needs food every day, so does our spiritual being. We feed our body three meals a day with snacks in between, but how many times a day do we feed our soul? Our bodies need food so that they can grow and develop and renew. Our spirit also needs to be fed so that it can grow and mature in the ways of the Lord.

The Bible is full of wisdom, truth, and promises that can benefit our spiritual being. How do often do you read it? Are you hungry for the Word of God? Or is your Bible dusty?

When you go to church, do you actively listen as the Word of God is going forth? The preacher has labored to find the will of God and to prepare the sermon. Are you hungry to sit down at the Lord's prepared table? Or do you sit through the sermon with your mind wondering when it will be over so that you can go feed your physical body the lunch that it craves?

If you are truly hungry for God and His Word, He will not send you away empty. Jesus Himself said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6). Not might be filled but SHALL be filled! Psalm 107:9 reads, “For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”

You can start feeding your soul in small steps. Pray and thank God for a new day every morning and ask for His guidance. Find a devotional book or app that has a "verse of the day." Ponder that verse as you go through your day. Pray as situations arise that you need God's help with. Read a chapter of the Bible or listen to the audio Bible before you go to bed. Listen only to good gospel music that will lift up your spirit. Keeping your mind on God will help keep you in peace (Isaiah 26:3). Think more about God's promises than you do about your current circumstances. Find someone who will pray with you and who encourages you as you talk about the Word of God together.

One final thought is found in James 4:8, "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." As you begin to hunger for God and reach out to Him, He will draw closer to you!