Jesus stated in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6) All other pleasures of life may be enjoyable for a time being, but will leave you with a void inevitably. You eat a delicious steak dinner, but will be hungry again. After reading a good book, you are left wanting for more. You exercise only to feel the longings in your body to go another mile. Ok, maybe that one is a stretch for some people, but you get the idea. Whenever we enjoy something, you just can't get enough of it. The temporal things of life (no matter how wonderful) will eventually leave you empty and desiring more without ever getting your fill. You are simply never going to be satisfied. God's word reminds us that "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Deuteronomy 8:3)
Though the things of life don't legitimately fill our longings, the things of the Spirit do repetitively. A few months ago I stopped in to buy a loaf of bread at a bakery in Columbia, South Carolina. As I ate on the bread one slice at a time, it seemed like the loaf was growing longer rather than dwindling in length. (What I realized later was that with each bite I was swelling but the bread was not.) The things of God fill our heart like the bread that is never consumed. The Israelites learned to trust in God for the manna to fall from the sky each day. They always had enough and the blessing of God's manna never stopped. So it is with the spiritual food God provides. For those who hunger and thirst for God will be filled. But can you ever get enough of God?
Do you hunger for God more than food and water? What are your greatest desires in life? Is pleasing God at the top of your priority list? Think about it, what are the things in your life that bring pleasure, but are ultimately going to wast away in comparison the the things of God. To what should we invest our time, energies and resources?
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