What Are You Hungry For?

My wife tries to feed me healthy foods (most of the time). She tries to ensure that I have vitamins and minerals (and sometimes essential oils – ugh). I very rarely have to think about what I will eat. For the last week or so, I have been on my own. It has been on me to consider my food intake. During previous experiences through seminary and military absences, I usually start off pretty well with good intentions of eating properly and exercising. A day or two in I usually lose a bit of discipline regarding the types of food I eat.

One of the things I’ve noticed during times of undisciplined eating is just how out of whack my appetite becomes. Snack type foods do not fuel our bodies the way nutritious foods do. Our bodies can become sluggish, and our minds can become dull. Bad eating sometimes induces more bad eating habits.

Our human spirit, in some ways, is similar in this regard. When we feed on spiritual snacks, it can put us in a “food coma.” The more spiritual snacks we eat, the less likely we will be hungry for nutritious spiritual food. I suppose I need to explain what I am referring to as spiritual snacks. Spiritual snacks can include such things as video games, movies, news feasting, mindless book reading, and many other such items. Now, this is not a condemnation of any of these activities in moderation. There is a time and a place for all things that are not intrinsically sinful.

When activities that are not sinful take the place of that which we need for spiritual sustenance, we have set ourselves up for feeling bloated and sluggish spiritually.

Jesus spoke of the blessing associated with “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt. 5:6). Peter wrote of the spiritual benefits of “long(ing) for the pure spiritual milk” found in God’s Word (1 Pet. 2:2). The Psalmist repeatedly describes his desire for the wonders of God’s Word (Ps. 119:18), going so far as describing his desire for the Word saying, “My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times” (v. 20). He speaks of God’s testimonies found in the bible as “my delight” (v. 24). He proclaims that God’s Word “strengthen(s) me” (v. 28). In verse 47, he states, “For I find my delight in Your commandments, which I love.” He speaks about the “hope” that arises “in Your word” (v. 81). He writes of the preserving nature of this delight in God’s Word (v. 92). The Psalmist is rejoicing in, longing for, meditating on, memorizing, and seeking to apply the glories of God’s sustaining, nourishing, and comforting Word.

When believers are reading through or considering these texts, their hearts are often stimulated in agreement. Our hearts resonate with loud “Amens.” We know and treasure the value of God’s Word to us.

Obstacles to Hungering for the Word

Yet, for some reason, there are obstacles that arise that satiate our hunger for God in His Word. Here are a few suggested but not exhaustive elements that satiate our hunger for God:

• There are sinful passions that wage war against the soul (1 Pet. 2:11). The elements of this item are various. There are cravings of our physical body (gluttony, fornication, body image), cravings of our mind (materialism, worry about the future, self-importance), and craving for revenge (anger, resentment, bitterness). All of these sinful cravings prevent a full experience of our “tast(ing) that the Lord is good” (1 Pet. 2:1-3; Eph. 4:22-23; Col. 3:1-16).
• There is also a prideful self-assurance that can cause us to cease thirsting after God in His Word. I can’t tell you how many times (not lately) I’ve heard people say, “I’ve heard all that before” (referring to why they are disinterested in the truth of the Bible). Now, that’s pretty blatant. However, there is a more refined way to treasure that concept in our hearts. Sometimes, we can feel like our background in the Bible is good enough that we do not need to keep pursuing God in His Word. This is a dangerous place to be, and I would encourage you to never become so comfortable with your understanding of the Bible that you stop pursuing Him there.
• There is a positive way to consider being satiated by the Word. We can come to the place (and it must be continuously maintained) that the “Word of Christ dwell(s) in you richly” (Col. 3:16).
  • “Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the Word of God, and get that Word into ourselves! As I have seen the silkworm eat into the leaf, and consume it, so ought we to do with the Word of the Lord—not crawl over its surface, but eat right into it till we have taken it into our inmost parts. It is idle merely to let the eye glance over the words, or to recollect the poetical expressions, or the historic facts; but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your very style is fashioned upon Scripture models, and, what is better still, your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord. I would quote John Bunyan as an instance of what I mean. Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like reading the Bible itself. He had read it till his very soul was saturated with Scripture; and, though his writings are charmingly full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim’s Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems — without continually making us feel and say, “Why, this man is a living Bible!” Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God. I commend his example to you, beloved.” Charles Spurgeon

Reasons to Hunger for the Word

The writers of Scripture provide ample reasons for us to continually hunger for God through His Word.

• God’s Word provides nourishment for our souls (Acts 20:32; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
• God’s Word renews our minds (Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:16).
  • Closely related to this, God’s Word resets our gaze (Col. 3:1-16).
• God’s Word produces a rightful awe and submission to God. As we seek after God in His Word, we get a glimpse of who He is and what He is like. We truly taste that He is good (1 Pet. 2:3). We are exposed to the “kindness” of God that leads “to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). While the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10), the Word of God is the source of understanding how great God is; therefore, it is the source of producing a willingness to surrender to Him. Apart from regular exposure to the Bible, we will increasingly live life on our own terms.
• God’s Word produces a transformation of our hearts (2 Cor. 3:17-18; Jam. 1:25).
• God’s Word prepares us for the opposition that arises from the kingdom of darkness (Eph. 6:10-18; Matt. 4:1-11).

I want to pursue God in His Word until I breath my last breath. I want to experience His goodness, to have my focus renewed, to have my heart transformed, to be prepared for the onslaught of evil, and to encounter the King who is “high and lifted up.” Through this, my soul will be nourished. I cannot settle for snacks that detract my attention, that reset my gaze elsewhere, that make me sluggish, clouded, and satiated. I need to hunger for God as I open His Word.

What are you hungry for?