22 February 2024 Hungry
John 6:33-35: “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” 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.”
Many of us have reached adulthood and have been privileged enough to never know real physical hunger. The hunger of not having eaten in days. The kind of hunger that leads to emaciation, fainting and convulsions.
Spiritually, however, most of us are in that state today.
The kind of hunger that consumes and keeps consuming like a black hole.
The kind of hunger that no amount of drugs, sex, food, entertainment, money, fame or viral cat videos can satisfy.
I remember in our Gynecology and Obstetrics course at the Medical Academy, we talked about the cravings that pregnant women get – and how sometimes the cravings were misrepresented by the brain.
For example, a mom-to-be might crave ice or even sand – but eating these things will have negative consequences for the baby as it doesn’t satisfy the nutritional requirement being sent to the brain. What the baby really needs at that stage is IRON – so iron-rich foods or a supplement would be a better choice. Eating sand or ice would leave the baby with an iron deficiency instead.
And so it is with our spiritual lives. Our innermost craves reconciliation and communion with God. Our inner self knows that only Jesus can satisfy the longing and the thirsting of the soul – but the carnal mind misinterprets and misrepresents this craving – this hunger – and leads us down the path to deficiency instead.
Only Jesus can comfort, heal and restore. Only Jesus through the work of His Holy Spirit in us can satisfy.
Psalm 84:2: My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
This is where we find ourselves today – right now – in this moment. Hungry, thirsty and trying to fill that hole deep inside with all kinds of things instead of turning to Jesus.
He is the Bread of Heaven. Those who partake in Him will never hunger again.
Jesus is calling.
He is saying, “come and drink the Living Water, come and thirst no more. Come and eat the Bread of Heaven – come and be satisfied!”
No more eating sand.
No more eating dirt.
Come and be filled.
Pray with me: Lord, I am hungry, and I am thirsty. I realize today that nothing in this world can fill that hole except for You. It is a God-shaped hole. Lord, come and fill me. Come and restore, come and revive me. Jesus, come and satisfy the longing of my soul. Come and heal me of my loneliness, my emptiness – come and find me again. Come and fill me Lord with Your love, Your goodness and Your grace as I swing wide the doors of my heart to You anew today. Let me hunger and thirst for righteousness and live a life pleasing to You. In Jesus name. Amen.