WHAT ARE YOU CRAVING?

Blessed are they which do
hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled.
Matthew 5:6

Have you ever been so hungry that it feels like your stomach is gnawing on your backbone?  You go to the fridge and open it but you can’t find anything that looks satisfying to eat that won’t take an hour to fix. 

You want something to eat NOW so you grab whatever you can find that’s quick…..even a slice of cheese looks good so you grab it and begin to nibble on it as you go look in the cabinet. 

You find a bag of potato chips that’s more like just a handful of crumbs…it’s not what you wanted but you’re so hungry, you pour the crumbs into your hand then into your mouth to tide you over until you can get some REAL food.

We think we’re starving if we skip one meal.  Can you imagine going 40 days without any food? 

After Jesus was baptized (as our example) by John the Baptist, He went into the wilderness to fast and pray before His ministry fully began.  He was in the wilderness for 40 days.  The Bible said, “He was afterward an hungered.”  (Matthew 4)

The devil knew Jesus was hungry….so he came to tempt Jesus in what he thought was the weakest moment. He said, “IF thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

Have you ever smelled fresh baked bread?   It smells soooooo good!

Having gone 40 days without food, the thought of fresh baked bread would have been an overwhelming temptation.

Jesus could do exactly that…turn a stone into bread IF He wanted to.  But He resisted the temptation and instead responded,

“IT IS WRITTEN, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Matthew 4:4

Despite His extreme physical hunger, Jesus knew satisfying the spiritual appetite through prayer and fasting was more important.

The definition of hunger means “to famish, to crave.” (Strong’s #G3983)

Jesus was telling us we need to HUNGER and TO CRAVE for spiritual things MORE than the physical needs.

There were two young men in the Bible who craved opposite things….

Jacob and Esau were twins born to Isaac and Rebekah – Isaac was the son of Abraham, the man who was called a ‘friend of God’ and received Promises from God.

Esau was the oldest of the two brothers and was in line to receive the birthright – this was the rights and privileges given to the firstborn, which were very important, and also entitled them to become the family priest (the spiritual leader) and they were to receive a double portion of the inheritance (Dt 21:17)

The Bible says Jacob was a plain man (meaning gentle, undefiled), dwelling in tents.  Sounds like Jacob was one who liked to stay close by the house.  He was his mother’s favorite (Gen 25:28).

While Esau was the opposite….he was a cunning hunter and would spend most of his time in the field.  He was a man’s man and his father’s favorite.  The Bible says his father Isaac loved to eat his venison (Gen 25:28).

One day, Esau became famished with hunger after having been in the field hunting most of the day.   As he drew near home, he could smell the most tantalizing smell and found his brother, Jacob, making soup.

He was nearly fainting with hunger and asked his brother for a bowl of soup. 

Rather than say, “sure brother, let me help you out.  Here you go!” Jacob instead responded asking Esau to sell his birthright to him in exchange for a bowl of soup.  He desired and wanted his twin brother’s Birth Right more than anything.

Esau reasoned within himself that the birthright would not do him any good if he was dead from hunger. He may have felt like he was dying from hunger but we know that wasn’t reality. 

The tantalizing smell of the pottage was playing games with his stomach and tastebuds. It was more than he could handle.  He desired and wanted that bowl of soup more than his Birth Right.  So, he agreed to let Jacob have his birthright in exchange for a mere bowl of soup.

He CRAVED a bowl of soup that would only satisfy the hunger temporarily more than he hungered for things of God.

These two Bible accounts are examples of being hungry.

The key verse says not only to HUNGER for RIGHTEOUSNESS but also to THIRST for RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

We’ve probably all experienced a time when we felt so thirsty it felt like our tongue was clinging to the roof of our mouth.  Especially on a hot, muggy day when the sun is beating down and you’ve been working outside for hours.  You feel so parched and dehydrated.  Then when you finally get an ice cold glass of water to drink, it seems like you can’t get enough of it. 

David, King of Israel, had been in battle with the Philistines. (2 Sam 23)  The battle was long and hot and he was weary.  In the heat of the battle, he remembered the refreshing water that he had often drank from the well of Bethlehem.  David longed for it and said,

…Oh that one would give me drink
of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!
2 Sam 23:15

Three of the mighty men heard his words and wanted to give King David what he longed for so they risked their lives to fight against and break through the Philistine army to get water from the well.  Then they risked their lives again to go back the same way they came, past the Philistine army. 

While David was grateful, he also felt so convicted that the men would risk their lives to bring him this water that he could not drink it.  Instead, he poured it out before the Lord. 

I believe David remembered this time of intense thirst when he penned Psalm 42.  This Psalm is a beautiful word picture of thirsting and longing for God….

As the hart (deer) panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God…
Psalm 42:1-2

While his physical man was extremely thirsty, he recognized the need to thirst for the things of God more.   Are WE thirsting for God like that?

What are you hungering and thirsting for?

Our flesh would rather sit and watch a movie instead of taking time to read the Bible and pray. People can sit 3 hours through that new Avengers movie but then complain and try to find any excuse to not come to church.  They’re hungering and thirsting after the wrong things….things that only fulfill the flesh temporarily.  Meanwhile, the spiritual man is starving and dying inside.

What would happen if you only ate 3 times a week at the most?

What about only twice in a week?  

Or only once in a while?  

Maybe every couple months?

You wouldn’t live long.  Yet people do that to the spiritual man inside of them. 

They only come to church occasionally, the only time they read their Bible and pray is at Church. 

A person can not expect to grow spiritually if they are not reading their Bible and praying DAILY!   (Remember the old kids song…"read your Bible, pray everyday...and you'll grow, grow, grow)

There’s a wise old saying…..whatever you feed is what is going to grow.

I want to issue a challenge to you…..look and pay attention to how you spend your day. 

Hungering and thirsting for Righteousness often means we have to deny the flesh.

Our flesh wants to eat rather than fast from food.

Our flesh would rather be on the river in a boat or at the lake than in Church on Sunday.

Our flesh would rather eat a candy bar or a piece of chocolate cake rather than a healthy meal with lettuce.

Our flesh would rather have the fatty unhealthy French fries instead of  a side of broccoli.

Our flesh would rather have a glass of coca cola rather than a glass of bland water.

While our flesh craves for that, we know it’s not healthy and eventually our health will suffer if we keep giving into what the flesh wants instead of what it needs.   In the same way, our spiritual man will suffer if we keep feeding our carnal man what it wants rather than what it needs.

God wants us to crave righteousness more than anything.   

Jesus said those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are blessed and they shall be filled.  (Matthew 5:6)   So, what are you craving?  The things of this world of the things of God?

Changing our eating habits takes work – it will take denying this flesh of what it wants - but it’s worth it in the long run to be physically healthy.

Changing our spiritual appetite takes work as well – it will take denying the carnal man of what it wants - but it is worth it in the end to be spiritually filled.

When you want to turn on the tv, make yourself pick up and read the Bible or spend time praying instead.

I will warn you….

The more you hunger  and crave the things of God – the closer you seek to draw near to God, the harder the devil is going to fight.   The devil will use whatever weapon he can to get you to stop serving Jesus….he knows your weak point and he will use that or he’ll use people to fight against you serving Jesus.

DON’T GIVE IN!      PRAY MORE!       PRAY HARDER!

KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH!

To overcome the devil you have to do 2 things:   (James 4:7)

1.      Submit to God  -  doing what He has instructed in His Word

2.     Resist the devil  -  don’t give in to the temptation to sin.

3.     he WILL flee from you

That’s a Promise in God’s Word!

We need to HUNGER and THIRST after Righteousness….we need to CRAVE the things of God.

The more you pray, the more you’ll want to pray.

The more you read the Bible, the more you’ll begin to understand it and want to read the Bible.

The more you fast, the more you’ll find you’re gaining spiritual strength.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled.
Matthew 5:6

What are you craving?