August 18, 2015
What are you hungry for? That’s often the question raised before a meal is cooked, or a restaurant is chosen. But, the question runs much deeper than menu options.
“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.’ “ (John 6.35)
Hunger and thirst drive passion for satisfaction, and therein lies a potential problem. Esau, twin brother to Jacob, one day came home from work famished. Jacob exploited his brother’s hunger and exchanged a bowl of lentil soup for his cherished birthright. Hunger can too easily be falsely satisfied with the wrong things.
So, a relevant question for us today is: are we truly hungry for the bread of life? Honestly, is it a deep down famished hunger, or a mere appetizer hunger? Are we looking for a small sample, or is real hunger driving us for the full-course meal?
The nature of my hunger is unsettling, because I’m not entirely sure how great my appetite is. The trappings of lifestyle mask the real nature of that hunger. Having never known true physical hunger, I can’t be certain about real spiritual hunger. And perhaps that’s the greatest value of the practice of fasting: physical hunger, for a specified period of time, better reveals spiritual hunger.
There is no doubt that the Bread of Life truly satisfies. The only variable is our personal appetite. Perhaps we better understand our hunger when we carefully evaluate how we seek to fill that hunger. Am I feasting largely on the world’s diet of entertainment, pleasure, and comfort, or do I regularly dine on prayer, Bible study, service, and evangelism? It’s not what we aspire to do that is indicative, but what we actually do.
“Father, create a great hunger within us today for Your Son, and the priorities that are His and Yours. May that hunger be so great that we passionately pursue. As You and Your Son relentlessly pursue us, may we do likewise in return. Cause us to be hungry enough so that we might truly know satisfaction as only You can provide.”
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2015
Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/
Amazon ebook & print devotional -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FQ1Q9GW
paperback print copy of book — https://www.createspace.com/4500045
“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.’ “ (John 6.35)
Hunger and thirst drive passion for satisfaction, and therein lies a potential problem. Esau, twin brother to Jacob, one day came home from work famished. Jacob exploited his brother’s hunger and exchanged a bowl of lentil soup for his cherished birthright. Hunger can too easily be falsely satisfied with the wrong things.
So, a relevant question for us today is: are we truly hungry for the bread of life? Honestly, is it a deep down famished hunger, or a mere appetizer hunger? Are we looking for a small sample, or is real hunger driving us for the full-course meal?
The nature of my hunger is unsettling, because I’m not entirely sure how great my appetite is. The trappings of lifestyle mask the real nature of that hunger. Having never known true physical hunger, I can’t be certain about real spiritual hunger. And perhaps that’s the greatest value of the practice of fasting: physical hunger, for a specified period of time, better reveals spiritual hunger.
There is no doubt that the Bread of Life truly satisfies. The only variable is our personal appetite. Perhaps we better understand our hunger when we carefully evaluate how we seek to fill that hunger. Am I feasting largely on the world’s diet of entertainment, pleasure, and comfort, or do I regularly dine on prayer, Bible study, service, and evangelism? It’s not what we aspire to do that is indicative, but what we actually do.
“Father, create a great hunger within us today for Your Son, and the priorities that are His and Yours. May that hunger be so great that we passionately pursue. As You and Your Son relentlessly pursue us, may we do likewise in return. Cause us to be hungry enough so that we might truly know satisfaction as only You can provide.”
Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2015
Be sure to also visit http://thetruthrevolution.wordpress.com/
Amazon ebook & print devotional -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FQ1Q9GW
paperback print copy of book — https://www.createspace.com/4500045
posted by steve @ 9:12 AM
1 Comments:
At 10:10 AM,
PMadoniajr said…
I appreciate the questions that you posed today:
Are we truly hungry for the bread of life?
Honestly, is it a deep down famished hunger, or a mere appetizer hunger?
Are we looking for a small sample, or is real hunger driving us for the full-course meal?
It's easy to satisfy hunger with samplings of "junk food." Unfortunately, its' satisfaction is only temporary and often times detrimental as pointed out with Jacob and Esau.
Thank you for the reminder that we should hunger for the "real nourishment" that comes only thru the Bread of Life.
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