Time to Eat!

Ever been really HUNGRY? A few evenings ago I was really hungry. We ha d been on the road most of the day and I hadn’t eaten the normal big meals – you know the ones, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, supper and snack. (Ok, minus so many snacks!) :) While traveling, I like to snack. (There’s that word again!) The problem is that all these little snacks keep me from being really hungry, you know – when you feel like you could eat anything even brussel sprouts. Wait… I wouldn’t go quite that far! Unfortunately, I tend to eat this way most of the time, thus my list of “meals” above. I’ve heard it’s best to eat more, smaller meals 0 but they need to be healthy and I don’t always make the right choices, but I try!I never thought of it until recently, but I tend to be the same way with my spiritual food. I get just enough satisfaction from church and my daily Bible and devotional reading that I don’t “hunger” after God’s Word as I ought to. While a hungry person will seek whole-heartedly for something to eat, the person who has had just enough doesn’t crave the food as much. My challenge to myself and to you is that we seek to become hungrier for God and His Word. Not by starving ourselves of church and daily devotionals, but by asking God to give us a sincere hungering.

Paul scolds the Corinthians for not having a good appetite in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. He tells them that he had to feed them milk instead of meat or solid food. They were not ready to receive solid food because they were still “fleshly.” The Corinthians needed an increase in their appetite as well as maturity.

When a person is hungry enough, he will eat anything! Proverbs 27:7b (NASB) says, “A sated [full] man loathes honey, but to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.”

Matthew 6:33 says that those who seek God’s Kingdom first and all these things will be added unto you. When we seek to have all God wants for us, He will fill us up! He wants to give us all that we can handle to grow in Him.

A sated man doesn’t seek. He’s no longer hungry. He’s satisfied and not willing to search. But a starved man will eat burnt toast. He’s seeking, he’s hungry. Have you ever noticed how fragile spiritual hunger is? One little delight and we’re good for a while. We don’t stay hungry for long.

These verses are talking about real hunger – craving, pursuing, seeking. Empty-belly hunger. That’s the kind of hunger God is looking for. Content in Him certainly. Content in who He is, and in the way He provides for our every need, but not satisfied. Not feeling so full that we no longer crave the knowledge and presence of God.”
~~~Lori Wick from the book Cassidy, Harvest House Publishers 2007.~~~

Thank you to Mrs. Wick for the inspiration and conclusion for this post! Many times the good fiction I read inspires me to deeper thought – hmm… that sounds like a whole other post to me!

Until then, here's to a healthy appetite!

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Image courtesy of All Posters.com.