Are You Hungry For Spiritual Things?

by Kevin Burton

   One of the top motivational tools of weight loss is the before and after picture. You’ve seen plenty of those I’m sure.

   Those pictures, which are worth a thousand words, say, “You can do it!” 

   Now this is ridiculous, but what if we could show a picture of your physical body, next to a picture of your spirit?  What we would see is how much you’ve been feeding your physical hunger compared to how much you’ve been feeding your spiritual hunger. 

   Aren’t you glad we can’t do that?  Right now, that photo set would be a deep embarrassment to me.

     “We live in a day when most of us don’t have to worry about being hungry for very long. Most people in the Western world have plentiful access to food,” wrote Dr. Tony Evans, speaker on the Urban Alternative radio ministry. “Sure, we may be inconvenienced by the time it takes to go to a store or restaurant, but very few of us in our nation know true physical hunger.”

   “It wasn’t like that in biblical days when there were no freezers or refrigerators. People had to hustle after food day in and day out because it couldn’t typically be preserved for extended periods of time. In addition, food preparation was often laborious and lengthy. Little was wasted when little is all they had,” Evans wrote. “Real hunger can be so deep and so gnawing that it can literally hurt, keeping someone awake all night.”

   “This is the hunger and the thirst Jesus spoke about. He told us that when it comes to the spiritual realm, we are blessed if we have this kind of hunger and thirst. We are blessed if we passionately desire righteousness.”
   “So, what are you hungry for? What do you thirst for? What’s your spiritual appetite like?”

    The website bibletools.com points us to Deut. 8:2-3 (NKJV) in stressing the need for spiritual hunger.

    “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

  “This is one of the earliest references to the parallel between physical and spiritual eating. It is not directly stated but implied. God intended Israel’s experiences in the wilderness to instruct the Israelites that all of life, both physical and spiritual aspects, depends upon God’s providence,” the bibletools passage reads.

   “These verses also confirm that leading a good life, an abundant life, is dependent upon one’s spiritual, mental, and emotional base. These elements of the mind determine one’s outlook, goals, and reactions to the myriad vicissitudes of life.”

   “These verses confirm that God directly leads us into many of them, as a means of instructing us, producing dual results: first, to experience them and develop certain characteristics; second, to test us so both He and we can see where we stand and how we cope.”

   “A major problem is that human nature compels us to focus almost totally upon the physical,” the passage reads. “God provides us wilderness experiences to let us know that there is a spiritual aspect to life that requires feeding and maintenance just as surely as the physical. Prayer, study, meditation, and obedience are the assimilation process in this parallel.”

   “Worship is more than adoration and reverence; it is the response of the whole person to the entirety of God’s will in all aspects of life. In the church, at home, on the job, and in the community, our direction must always be whatever God wills.”

   “Starvation of the spirit is less obvious on the outside than physical hunger because the spirit starves much more slowly and it resides within. Spiritual malnutrition may go unrecognized for long periods because the body and life goes right on. Yet just as surely as one’s body gives signs that it needs nourishment, so does the spirit, and it, too, will eventually be recognized on the outside by its symptoms.”

   “When the body cries out for food, one feels emptiness in the stomach, weakness in the muscles, and even sleepiness. If it goes on long enough, a faintness and headache may arise. But when the spirit is malnourished either from deprivation or a harmful diet, the gradual reaction in life is different.”

   “Spiritual weakness appears, as does sin. With sin comes anger, irritability, exasperation, depression, discouragement, melancholy, despondency, gloominess, bitterness, hatred, resentment, self-pity, hopelessness, despair, paranoia, envy, jealousy, family conflict, arguing, divorce, drunkenness or other addictions, and competitiveness as self-centeredness deepens.”

   Deuteronomy 8:2-3 shows us that God, our source of spiritual nourishment, is more important than physical nourishment. If we have the right source, the nourishment will be good. Otherwise, the situation is hopeless.