The Hunger That Grows

The more we are fed by God, the more we discover how much more of Him there is to desire.

I've been thinking about hunger and thirst.

Scripture tells us:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”—Matthew 5:6

But what does that actually look like?

What does it mean to hunger and thirst after God?

I don't think the world necessarily knows it's hungry and thirsty for God. People are hungry for life. They're hungry for belonging, acceptance, hope, meaning, salvation—even if they don't understand what they're hungry for.

But for those of us who have been reborn in Christ, I believe something different happens.

We're given an appetite.

We're like infants who need to be nourished.

Peter describes it this way:

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”—1 Peter 2:2

We begin wanting more.

More of God.

More understanding.

More of His Word.

More of His ways.

More of His wisdom.

And as we're fed, we grow.

What Does God Feed in Us?

I've been meeting with men, studying Scripture and studying things about God for more than thirty years.

And I'm still hungry.

I'm fed first through God's Word. That's where I go first.

But I've also been fed countless times by sitting with other people who are hungry and thirsty for God.

I listen to what God is showing them.

I hear how their hunger is being met.

How their thirst is being satisfied.

I hear something in Scripture through another man that I hadn't seen before.

I listen to a good teacher.

A sermon.

A testimony.

Sometimes even a podcast.

And I'm fed.

It enlightens me.

Encourages me.

Strengthens me.

Invigorates me.

Gives me hope.

But here's what's so interesting about spiritual hunger.

This Meal Makes You Hungrier

When we sit down to a physical meal, eventually we get full.

Sometimes we get too full.

We push the plate away and say, That's enough.

But I've found something very different happens when we sit down at God's table.

The more I eat, the hungrier I become.

The more I discover about God, the more I realize there is to discover.

The more I understand His Word, the more I want to understand.

The more I experience His goodness, His character and His ways, the more I want Him.

The meal satisfies me...

but somehow it also increases my appetite.

I don't think that's a contradiction.

I think that's how God designed us.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good.”—Psalm 34:8

You taste.

You discover He's good.

And you want more.

But You Have to Eat It

There's another part of this that I think we sometimes miss.

When God fed Israel in the wilderness, He gave them manna.

Enough for the day.

They weren't supposed to gather it up and store it away because they were afraid there wouldn't be any tomorrow.

God would provide tomorrow.

But what He provided today was meant to be eaten today.

I think there's something there for us.

We can spend years studying God's Word.

Listening to sermons.

Reading books.

Going to Bible studies.

Listening to podcasts.

Accumulating knowledge.

But knowledge about God isn't the same thing as being nourished by God.

What He gives us has to be taken in.

Digested.

Used.

Jesus said:

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”—Matthew 4:4

God's Word is supposed to become life in us.

If He shows me something about forgiveness, I need to forgive.

If He teaches me about generosity, I need to become generous.

If He shows me something about trusting Him, then somewhere in my life I'm going to have to trust Him.

If He teaches me to love, that love needs to find its way into another person's life.

Otherwise, I'm just accumulating information.

And that's not what food is for.

Food is supposed to become part of you.

Don't Let It Rot

That's the picture that keeps coming to me.

Don't let what God gives you rot in your mind.

Don't keep chewing on something you're never willing to swallow.

Don't collect spiritual knowledge that never becomes spiritual life.

Take what God gives you.

Eat it.

Let it nourish your soul.

Let it strengthen your spirit.

Let it renew your mind.

And then use that strength to follow Him.

Because the purpose of being fed isn't simply to become full.

It's to grow.

It's to become more like Christ.

And here's the remarkable thing:

The more that happens, the hunger doesn't disappear.

It grows.

I know more about God today than I did thirty years ago.

But I'm not less hungry for Him.

I'm hungrier.

There is more of Him I want to know.

More of His character I want to understand.

More of His Word I want to discover.

More of His life I want formed in me.

David wrote:

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”—Psalm 42:1

That's the hunger.

That's the thirst.

And I don't think God ever intended for us to lose it.

So come to the table.

Open His Word.

Listen.

Learn from the people He's placed around you.

Receive what He gives you today.

But don't just collect it.

Eat it.

Let it become part of you.

Let it strengthen you.

Let it change you.

Let it form you more and more into the image of Christ.

And then come back tomorrow...

hungry again.