Nurturing Spiritual Appetite
Matt. 5:6
8-2-09
Intro
We take as our text this morning, Matt 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” That verse describes a blessing that I want to live in for the rest of my life. I don’t want to ever lose my hunger for more of God. I want to somehow maintain a healthy desire to know God better and to be changed into His image. I suspect that same desire is in you or you wouldn’t be here today.
Is it even possible to maintain a longing for God in our lives? Is that something that just comes and goes and there’s not much we can do about it? Or is there a way to nourish that desire. The Greek tense in our text would indicate that it is something that becomes a part of who we are. The words translated “hunger and thirst” are present active participles which indicate a continual attribute. In other words, it is possible for you and me to be characterized as people who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
But if you’re like me, there are definitely times when that hunger and desire is more intense than others. The question is: How do we nurture our spiritual hunger for God?
I. Taste and see that the Lord is good. When we were growing up we developed a taste for certain foods. For me, Thanksgiving is really missing something if I don’t get some dressing the way Mom made it. I always like it when Jeanie cooks the Thanksgiving meal because early in our marriage she learned to make it the way Mom made it. A lot of you would not like Mom’s dressing. It is made with cornbread and has black olives in it. I’ve got a friend who will eat nothing but dressing made with regular white bread. Why, because that’s the way his Mom made it. The point is this: we acquire our taste for certain foods. Before that happens we have to try it out. Amen? That’s why David passionately says in Ps 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good....” There was a day when I took a taste of God’s goodness and have desired it ever since. There was a time when someone explained to me the grace of God and I experienced it. That caused me to want more. I want more of God’s grace flowing through my life today than yesterday.
II. Acknowledge your need for spiritual nourishment. Is it important to nourish your spirit as well as your body? I know people who religiously care for their physical bodies. They are careful that the food they eat doesn’t have too many calories. They make sure it has the right protein and vitamins to nourish them properly. They stick to a routine that gives them plenty of exercise. In the natural, some of us could learn from their example. It is a good thing to take care of ourselves physically. Paul says it is profitable for a little while; it serves us well in this short temporal life. He told Timothy (4:8) “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” In comparison, Paul says taking care of our spiritual well being is infinitely more important.
Jesus made a similar statement when He quoted Deut. 8:3 and said “...Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). He understood the necessity of feeding upon what God says. When He taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread....” He had more in mind that just physical food. I believe that prayer includes petition for our physical needs; but it’s not limited to that. We need to look to the Father daily and ask Him to feed us spiritually as well. The point is this: we cannot simply ignore our spiritual needs and think everything is going to be fine. In fact, we must see spiritual nourishment as a higher priority than physical.
III. Intentionally eat healthy food. I’m talking about what we take into our souls on a daily basis. Peter wrote, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:2-3). Has anybody here tasted and found the Lord to be gracious? I have too. The pure milk of the word will nourish our souls and give us spiritual health. David had an appetite for that. Listen to what he says to the Lord in Ps 119:103 “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!” If I have no taste for the word of God, I need to find out why. I need to discover the honey that’s there for me.
One of the terrible judgments that came on Israel for their disobedience was a famine for the word of God. Amos 8:11-13 "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD. 12 They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, But shall not find it. 13 "In that day the fair virgins And strong young men Shall faint from thirst.” I don’t want to take for granted that God speaks to us today. He is speaking through this sermon. At times He speaks through us when we’re just talking with one another. He speaks through prophetic utterance. I know that He has spoken to us in the Bible and everything He says now must be consistent with that. But God’s speaking is not just in the written word. That needs to be quickened by the Holy Spirit for it to be meaningful to us today.
A famine of hearing the word of the Lord would truly be a crisis. If man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, then a famine of hearing the word of the Lord would be a serious matter. After Amos spoke that word there were 400 years of silence between the closing of the Old Testament and the birth of Christ. For twice as long as the United States has existed, God said nothing to those people. In the days of Eli the Bible says the word of the Lord was rare. Sin had brought a famine of hearing the words of God. I can craft a sermon without God; but I can’t give you a sermon that’s the word of the Lord without Him speaking. Are there places today that are experiencing a famine of the word of the Lord? Are there people standing in the pulpits speaking a hollow message that is not what God is saying—it’s just a nice speech human to human. I think it’s very possible. Do you know what brings on a famine of hearing the word of the Lord? A lack of appreciating its real value—ignoring it when it comes—disobedience to what God says—brings this simple yet severe judgment: God simply stops talking.
God said to Joshua (1:8) “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Everything depended upon continual engagement with the word of God—reading it, hearing it, and obeying it. When we place that kind of value on the word, we read it with hunger. We understand that our future depends upon it. We understand that our wellbeing both temporal and eternal is rooted and grounded in our involvement with the word of the Lord. We listen to the sermon in a different way. No longer are we just hearing a person’s thoughts; but in the course of that sermon we hear God saying something specifically to us. We hear His word somewhere in that message and we feed upon that.
We get real intentional about what we’re feeding on.
IV. Avoid appetite killers.
This is the heart and soul of the message because this is what is happening to most Christians’ spiritual appetites. They eat too much junk food—spiritual junk food. Now junk food in the natural is not a poison that will kill you. It simply destroys your desire for healthy foods. Every mother knows that if the kid eats candy before supper, he will not eat the healthy meal prepared for him.
If I wear myself out on worldly entertainment all evening, I’m not going be hungry for morning devotions the next day. If I was up until midnight Saturday night, feasting on entertainment, I’m not going to be hungry to hear the word of the Lord Sunday morning. I don’t care if you stayed up watching movies at home or went to a concert. I don’t care if the concert was Christian entertainment or non-Christian, you probably will have little appetite for the word of the Lord. What’s popular today is to equate Christian entertainment with truly hearing from God, worshipping God, encountering God. I’m not saying those things never happen in the big events, but often it’s not really about an encounter with God. Too often it’s exactly like the world’s entertainment but with a little Christian veneer. Make sure you’re getting the real deal.
We live in a society with lots of things to do. Many of them are good things; they’re not evil in themselves. But they keep us too busy to nurture our relationship with God. I assume you contend with that because I do. There are any number of clubs we can belong to and events to attend. If we are to protect our appetite for God, we may have to say no to some of those things. I’m not here to tell you what those are; but the Holy Spirit is. What is going on in your life that diminishes your appetite for God? Those are the things we have to address.
Prov 27:7 says, “He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet” (NIV). The finest steak dinner Texas Roadhouse has to offer is not appealing if I just got through stuffing myself. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” If I come here stuffed with the entertainment of the world, the richest sermon preached would have no appeal. “I’m already full, thank you.” The Apostle John talks about the problem of filling ourselves with the world and then expecting good spiritual results. 1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Here’s the problem. There is simply not room enough in our finite beings for us to fill ourselves with love for the world and the also fill ourselves with the love of the Father.
V. Get with people who will stir up your desire for God.
Heb 10:24-25 “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” I have known people who got off alcohol or got off drugs but as soon as they got back with the old crowd all the old desired got stirred up. Before you know it they’re right back into the addiction. The negative influence of a crowd can be powerful. But so can the positive influence of people committed to serving the Lord. We are to stir up love and good works-- not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. It’s hard to spend two hours a week with people seeking God and 40 hours a week with people seeking other things, and keep our passion for God at a high level. We need one another. We all need to be encouraged in our faith. We need to stir up our hunger toward God as we gather to together. In fact, we come together for the very purpose of seeking Him.
David wrote, Ps 84:1-2 “How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Verse 4 “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You.” Verse 10 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” David understood the value of corporate worship. He understood the strength that comes when God’s people come together to seek the face of the Lord. Ps 27:4 “One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD.”
Nothing will stir your appetite toward God like getting into His presence—meeting with Him—communing with Him. In His presence is fullness of joy. The world has nothing to compare with it. Not everyone will take the spiritual journey to enjoy that; but those who do, never regret it. Ps 24:3-5 “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.” I want to ascend that hill; I want to receive the blessing. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”
Conclusion
Spiritual hunger is a natural result of staying spiritually healthy. We can understand these things because they are true in the physical just as they are true in the natural. We nurture spiritual hunger when we:
(1) Taste and see that the Lord is good.
(2) Acknowledge our need for spiritual nourishment.
(3) Intentionally eat healthy food.
(4) Avoid appetite killers.
(5) Get with people who will stir up your desire for God.
How strong is your spiritual appetite? If it’s not what it should be, there are some things you can do to correct that. Maintaining our spiritual appetite is important for all of us. Have you tasted His goodness? You’re invited to do that today.
Invitation
For FOOTNOTES/SOURCES go to WWW.GATEWAYNIXA.ORG
Richard Tow
Gateway Foursquare Church
Nixa, Missouri
