Have you ever been hungry and/or thirsty? Most of us have never known what it is to be truly hungry or thirsty.
Hunger is defined by the New Illustrated Bible Dictionary as “a strong need or intense desire for food”. It is a craving, a desperate need to eat. Our bodies are designed to need food to keep us going. When we don’t eat and get a sufficient amount of water, our bodies tell us to eat and drink.
Luke gives us a perfect example of a man that was desperately hungry. He isn’t named, but we call him the Prodigal Son. Remember that this man had demanded his inheritance and left home. He had wasted his inheritance in riotous living. In chapter 15, verse 17, Matthew recounts this young man’s dilemma. He says, “I perish with hunger!” He was physically starving. He only knew of one thing to do, and that was to return home and beg his father for a job. When he returned home, his father greeted him with open arms and fed him. He went home in repentance, and his father welcomed him.
In the fourth of our beatitudes, Jesus says that we will be filled if we hunger and thirst after righteousness. This is not a physical hunger and thirst but rather a spiritual one. We can see this in both encounters Jesus had with the people and in His teachings.
In John 4, Jesus had occasion to talk with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Normally, the Jews and Samaritans had nothing to do with one another; but Jesus was passing through Samaria and met this women. His disciples had gone to buy food, and Jesus took advantage of this situation of the woman coming to the well to draw water.
One of things Jesus told her was that He could give her water that would fill her, and she would never thirst again. He didn’t give her any additional information about the water of which He speaks, but He did confront her with her sinful life. The obvious purpose of this meeting was to show this woman she needed to thirst for the truth.
In John 6, Jesus had recently fed 5,000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. He then walked on the water. Many people followed Him, but He told them He knew they were just interested in the miracles He performed. These people had been physically hungry, and Jesus fed them. Jesus saw that they were now in need of spiritual food.
Jesus finally told them, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35 KJV). Jesus is clearly the answer to spiritual hunger and thirst.
In Proverbs 19:15 Solomon says, “…an idle soul shall suffer hunger”. Solomon often condemns slothful or lazy ways, but here he says that a lazy soul will be hungry.
So how do we fill up the soul? How can our souls avoid this suffering? We fill our souls with the Word. The psalmist says in Psalm 107:8-9, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness”.
We fill our spiritual needs in the same manner we fill our physical bodies. We provide the food our bodies need.
In the story of Job, we remember how Satan challenged God to allow him to test Job. Satan took everything from him, except his nagging wife. In chapter 23, Job talks about his plight. He said, “ But he (God) knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:10-12).
Job kept the faith, even though he had been tempted and tried. He knew that somehow the outcome would be for the best. He also said that God’s words were more necessary than physical food. It is the words of God that will fill us spiritually.
Where do we acquire these words of God? We find them in the scriptures. Matthew 4:4 records a statement Jesus made when the devil tempted Him in the wilderness. Jesus quoted from the Old Testament, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
This scripture is first recorded in Deuteronomy 8:3. Here God reminded the Israelites how He allowed them to be hungry in order to humble them and prove them. Yet, He fed them with manna so that they would know that “man doth not live by bread only, but by ever word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live”.
God’s words feed us. God’s commandments feed our souls. To put it simply, we need to read, study, and then obey the B-I-B-L-E.
Sandra Oliver