Hunger!

Is it lunch already?

I’m here at work. I am a substitute teacher and today I am with fifth graders.  I’ve subbed for this class before and they are one of my favorite classes, and not just because my middle daughter is in this class either. Really, I just enjoy them a ton. Today, however, they are extremely unruly and chatty, chatty, chatty! I know there are certain factors but I have to wonder if, at this point in time (just before lunchtime), part of it is just hunger.

I have a friend that when she gets hungry; she gets ornery! Feed her and she’s good; don’t and nobody is!

We seem to get this. We seem to understand that the body needs food and if it doesn’t get it, all manner of things are affected.

But, when it comes to spiritual hunger we seem to think a little different. At times we think we can maintain our spiritual health by what we don’t put in. It is as if as long as we avoid the bad things to put in we will have a spirit full of health and vitality.

We are all aware that we cannot just avoid the negative things for our physical body and never feed it the things and nutrients it needs….. So why would our spiritual body, the one made by the same Creator as the physical body, be any different.

I am reminded of a verse that Lord has used many times in my life, to guide me with. It is Proverbs....  “Every bitter thing tastes sweet to a hungry soul.”

Wow, I hate to admit how many times this verse has proven true in my life.

We all know this feeling. We are so physically hungry that we eat that “quick bite” item that we did NOT want to eat but, well, we were hungry and it was available. Fact is, if we had had other options we likely wouldn’t have chosen the “quick bite” item, but we didn’t, so we caved.

It’s the same spiritually as well. If we don’t steadily feed ourselves the word of God we will settle for anything, even when what we’ve found is not what we truly want or, worse yet, it’s bitter.

Remember too, that we have times we will be hungrier than others. Let’s not let the enemy convince us that since our daily bible time is in place that we are “covered”. It’s like after a good work out or a long run, you’re just HUNGRY and you need it! You’ve used up what you had!

So it is with your spirit. There will be times where you daily devo time is enough, but then there are times where your normal routine won’t hack it!

Are you there now?

Is there, maybe, a reason you feel like you should read the word instead of watching that favorite TV show that you always watch and have never felt like it was a bad thing before…? Let us not be so “all or nothing.” Maybe tonight its ok, maybe tomorrow it won’t be.

Spirit led and Spirit fed. We gotta be; if we wanna be Spirit satisfied!

A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing [is] sweet. [NKJV] Proverbs 27:7