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BP 219

Do you hunger for food that will sate your appetite? Are you thirsty for a drink that will slake your desire?

The Bible often talks about hunger and thirst . . .

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” ~ Matthew 5:6.

God’s word refers to the food that will not satisfy and that which is good and delightful . . .

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food” ~ Isaiah 55:1-2.

Scripture tells us that one day our hunger and thirst will be satisfied in God’s presence . . .

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” ~ Revelation 7:15ff.

Jesus announced that He is the source of water that will forever quench our thirst . . .

^“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’” ~ John 4:13-14

Jesus claimed that those who come to Him will never be hungry or thirsty . . .

John 6:35: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.“

So, it is clear that men and women are creatures driven by hunger and thirst that appears to be God given and good. Human desire seems godly. As C.S. Lewis said, we don’t want to lessen our desire and settle for less but desire more so that we can have the holiday by the seashore (God’s presence now and also in heaven?) instead of the mud pies of this world.

But then we are reminded that not all human desire is a good. Paul writes in Colossians 3:18ff: ^“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”

In this passage, idolatrous hunger leads to destruction. There is a hunger and thirst for righteousness that leads to a godly satisfaction but here we see that there is a hunger in those who are enemies of Jesus that does not end so well. Desire unyoked from God is deadly. Romans 8:6-8 tells us that “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Human desire is a mighty river that forks and flows in two directions. We can hunger for righteousness that leads to God-designed satisfaction or we can make our belly (earthly things) our god and desire idols that lead us away from God and are a result of our rebellion against God.

We can set out minds on earthly things or we can set our minds to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Those who walk as enemies of Jesus have only the one fork of the river that they hunger after—the whitewater of the flesh that leads to the waterfall of death. Logically, then, it must be true that Christians only have the other fork that they desire, right, namely, the beautiful river of life that flows out of the new self that is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the Creator?

No, not true.

As we have seen before in Romans 7, Paul clearly portrays from his own spiritual journey that believers in Jesus have a daily battle within themselves to practice hungering for the Spirit or hungering for the flesh: “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am!” ~ Romans 7:21ff.

So, what do we know so far? Those who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ (even if they might be moral and very “nice” people) are hostile to Jesus. Their God is not Jesus. They serve somebody or something else. In their current state, they would not choose heaven with Jesus. They do not have the Spirit of God living within themselves, and their hunger is devoted to the things of the belly (of this material world).

Christians, on the other hand, who are believers not in name only but who have become new creations who have died to sin and been raised with Christ, no longer walk as enemies of Jesus. To the contrary, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” ~ Philippians 3:20-21.

We who are heavenly citizens hunger and thirst for righteousness and long for our eternal home where we can be with Jesus.

Or do we?

Are any of you distracted from a hunger and thirst for Jesus? Do you ever find yourself navigating down the whitewater fork of the river? Do you feel deep regret about forgetting Jesus in your daily life? I know I do. I have mercy toward myself because I know this life is a battle between the flesh and the Spirit (Galatians 5), but I also groan about how easily I pursue other things that do not satisfy me. Not for long, at least. And most of those other things are not terrible sins. Those earthly things are much more subtle and can even justify at times.

I’m not going to debate about what sins are worse for the Christian—the obvious “transgressions” of the flesh which involve crossing an obvious line in the sand and which stir up deep shame in us or the more subtle “missing the mark” sins that often are what one might call “omissional” as opposed to “comissional.”

Regarding a hunger for Jesus or the thirst for the pleasures of this world, Sophie Miller in her blog reflects on John Piper’s book, A Hunger for God. She writes comments that grab my heart. The only problem is that I’m not always sure if what she says are quotes from Piper’s book or her commentary. I will cite a few of her comments assuming they are from Piper but give her credit for those words that are hers as well.

Sophie quotes, “The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world.”

I will supplement this comment with words I did find in Piper’s book: “If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened” (p. 23).

Piper goes on to say that what keeps us from God’s banquet table is not always gross sin but trivial distractions that are not evil in themselves. He points out that Luke describes a piece of land, a pair of oxen, and a wife as the things that distract the man from God. Luke also writes, “And as for what fell [the seed that is sown] among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” ~ Luke 8:14.

So, it is not always the patently evil things of this world that interfere with our hunger and thirst for righteousness; rather, “the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.”

I will conclude Piper’s contributions here with one last quote: “’The pleasures of this life’ and ‘the desires for other things’—these are not evil in themselves. These are not vices. These are gifts of God. They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God.”

Here is where I wrestle with the topic of everyday earthly pleasures: some people can become so shame-riddled by not doing what they should do as lovers of Jesus. Everything must bring glory to God (intentionally?) or what they do is a waste to the kingdom of God. Others are nibbling daily on the things of this world that legitimately distract them from God. Their relationship with God is more an extracurricular activity that ranks up there with loving pickle ball and a new series on Netflix.

So, what are we to think about our hunger and thirst as creatures made in the imago Dei but still living in the world? When do earthly pleasures distract us from God and when do they glorify God? Where is the line?

Or is this question even the right one to ask?

Mother Theresa addressed human hunger and thirst when she said:

“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”

I would agree with Mother Theresa that the deepest problem in the world is a hunger for love–a hunger above all for God’s love that resulted in the substitutionary death of His Son so that men and women might be filled with the righteousness of God and be adopted into His family. Relationship restored!

The core issue in this universe is a relational problem that flows out of a dangerous and sinful alienation from God. We have seen in the scripture passages above that apart from God we will desire earthly things that will lead to our destruction. But in the end, is it the presence of earthly pleasures that will kill unbelievers? No. It is the absence of Jesus’ presence in their souls.

Yes, hunger and thirst come down to a relational issue: are you with Jesus and so hungry for Him or are you separated from Him and so left to thirst for the things of this world?

How about for believers?

God has given us everything to enjoy, yes. 1 Timothy 6:17 says, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” God wants us to have joy in this world.

Just examine yourself to see if Jesus is your first love. Why? So that you are legalistically laboring to always exalt Christ and give Him all the glory He deserves or else? No, simply because of that word, “legalistically.” I believe God wants us to freely worship Him—not under compulsion or “shoulds”—but with praise that flows from our love for Him.

Yes, I certainly believe you were created to worship, serve, reflect, love, hunger and thirst for God above all things; and yes, I believe God receives glory when we find our pleasure in Him above all other things/idols and so practice Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”

Don’t labor to give God the glory because you should and if you don’t, He will be angry. Instead, daily strive to do this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Love must come first. When we love God and find joy in that love, we will hunger to serve Him and be with Him and thirst to make Him our highest priority and think about Him a lot.

Grow in your habit of loving the Father, the Son, and the Spirit and everything else will be added to you. Practice His presence for, once again, the battle of the universe is between separation and being with Him and in Him. There is nothing better than being with and in Jesus. You simply must appropriate that reality and practice being in His presence.

How do we do that? How do we hunger and thirst for Jesus more?

Seek Him first.

• Alone in the deepest places of your heart.
• In the body of Christ.
• In worship.
• In prayer.
• In the reading of the word.
• In mentoring moments of confession, transparency, and asking for help.
• In counseling when something is barring the way between you and Jesus’ presence, and you need a guide to help you identify and destroy false arguments and lies.

Yes, hunger and thirst to practice seeking Him first. Then everything will take its proper place.

Man’s chief end is to love God and so enjoy Him and so obey Him and so glorify Him. It’s all about the relationship of intimacy and trust.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments” ~ John 14:15

”O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you” ~ Psalm 63:1-3