There is so much “out there” that we could “set our minds on” right now.
Information, different perspectives, facts, studies, numbers, theories, opinions, feelings…SO much information.
My mind wants all the information,
I want to consider all the things,
I want to know the unknowns,
I want to be aware of what’s beneath the surface, I want to know what’s really going on….
But I’m realizing that this kind of “hunger” can so easily become the “hunger” of my heart…my #1 desire.
What happens when a “hunger” or “desire” becomes far greater than a hunger to simply know and discover God, and His truth and His ways?
What if the desire for knowledge becomes more interesting and valuable to me than simply sitting at His feet? How quickly can my own “hunger” for knowledge grow out of control? How quickly can this take me down the wrong path if I’m not submitted to Him?
I think of what happened in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve were tempted to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil…
“And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” —Genesis 2:9
“The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” —Genesis 2:16-17
Father, I want a hunger to seek and know You, a simple and purified kind of hunger for Your heart that goes far beyond any other kind of hunger!
As we desire this kind of “hunger”… all the rest of the things will begin to fall into place.
The hunger that comes from Him —and hunger that is submitted to Him will become a path that leads into the Light.
But a hunger that is not submitted to Him could lead into a path of darkness, and be nothing more than obsessive distraction at best.
What if from the place of hunger for seeking Him, comes a kind of “hunger for truth” that is far beyond what my ability could ever take me?
Instead of searching for the answers in my own strength, and as my main search… what if it all comes from His strength, His mind, and I am led by His wisdom—a direction I wouldn’t know if I weren’t following Him so closely, if I didn’t have my heart focused on Him?
“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” —Deuteronomy 8:3
“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.” —John 6:33-35
“Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” —John 4:13-14
“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” —John 7:37
“Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.” —Revelation 21:6
Thank You, Lord, for leading us in the way we should go. Thank You for the hunger that You offer us, a kind of hunger that can only come from You, a hunger that can only be satisfied by You, a hunger that You place within us to seek You first, a heavenly desire to search out Your heart. It is from this place, that “life” flows from… Help me to let go of the need to have “all the answers”… and I ask for a hungry soul that can only be satisfied by You.
“For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” —Psalm 107:9
-Heather ?