Sustaining A Hunger for God’s Word
Jeff Lynn
If we’re not regularly intaking the Bible, then we’re not growing and there’s no way we can be spiritually fit. if you’re a follower of Christ attempting to bring glory to God and being fulfilled, remember, you’re only fulfilled, truly fulfilled when you are fulfilling the purpose for which you are designed by your Creator.’
The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.The commandments of the Lord are right,
bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the Lord is pure,
lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true;
each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant,
a great reward for those who obey them.Psalm 19:7-11
Do you desire God’s Word more than the finest gold? Throughout the Psalms, you see David’s hunger for the Word of God.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Matthew 4:4
Are you simply sustaining your life through bread, through physical sustenance alone, or are you really thriving, living and flourishing by every word that comes from the mouth of God? If you want a hunger for the word of God, therefore being nourished and then being spiritually fit, here are three things that will create a hunger and thirst for God in your life.
Experience God.
1 Peter 2:1-3
1 So rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow by it for your salvation, 3 since you have tasted that the Lord is good.
You’re not going to hunger for God if you never experienced God. You don’t salivate for junk mail. You throw it in the trash. You don’t want mail from someone you don’t know. You have to get to know and experience God, in order to desire His Word.
Taste mans to have or receive a sensation or impression of anything, or to experience anything. Have you experienced God as your Lord and Savior?
If I’ve never tasted anything, I wouldn’t have a hunger for it. If I taste it and find that it’s delicious, I would have a taste for it. I remember my son having Krispy Kreme donuts for the first time. The taste of those donuts was incredible.
Jared said he didn’t like Krispy Kreme donuts because he never tasted it. Once he tasted it, he was impressed by the taste.
1 Peter 2:3b says, “3 since you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
You have to experience or taste God, in order to develop a hunger for Him.
2. Eliminate Congestion.
Congestion will interfere with a baby’s appetite. What is congesting you from hunger with God? Here are some areas that keep you from God:
- Malice is the desire to harm.
- Is there anyone I desire to see suffer?
- Is ether anyone I desire to harm?
- Is there anyone I spite or want to see humiliated?
- Deceit is the attempt to mislead; decoy, a fake that looks like the real thing
- Do I attempt to mislead people in order to get what I want?
- Do I attempt to misled people in order for them to think more highly of me?
- Am I insecure in who God has created me to be and therefore attempted to make myself look good?
- Hypocrisy – pretense of motive, you may pretend as though you’re acting from good motives, but you really have a selfish intent
- Do I perform something publicly that I don’t really practice privately?
- Am I one way on the outside, yet another inside?
- Are the spiritual disciplines I exercise for “show” and not for growth”?
- Envy is pain at others’ successes.
- Do I have an unhealthy desire for someone else’s possessions?
- Is there someone I resent because they are happy or have been prosperous?
- Does it cause me pain to see someone else’s notoriety?
- Slander is speech that defames and damages the character or good reputation of someone, even it’s true. Why do you need to share that information unless it edifies them or builds them up. Is your speech grace-giving? Is it edifying?
- Have I shared information about someone that has injured their reputation?
- Do I have a habit of sharing information about others that damages their good name?
It’s all about causing pain to others and making you look good. If you have this mindset, you’re not going to hunger for God’s Word because it exposes your sin. If so, first acknowledge it, confess it and then, a great way to change your mind is to pray for that person.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The word of God exposes your thoughts, your narrative and your intention. The Bible will keep you from sin and sin will keep you from the Bible.
3. Eat healthy.
1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow by it for your salvation
Change your diet of what you’re reading, watching, or seeking. If you’re used to junk food, pizza, burgers, and fried chicken, then fresh foods like salmon, vegetables and other healthy foods don’t sound that appetizing. When I make a conscious effort to begin eating healthy, I have a desire for those foods.
On the spiritual side, if you are taking in movies that dishonor God’s Word and shame God’s people, social media,
You’ve got to eliminate spiritual junk food from your diet. I don’t know what you’re reading. I don’t know what you’re watching. Start eating on the pure spiritual milk of God’s word. Start eliminating these things that, detract, deter or distract you and over time you’re going to start longing for God’s word again.
Start focusing on the pure, unadulterated spiritual milk of the word. I think your palate will change, and you can’t imagine going a day without reading God’s word. You can’t imagine going through the day without eating a meal to sustain yourself physically. If you want to hunger for the word of God, experience God, eliminate all these areas of congestion of sin, change your diet and start eating healthy. And lastly, he says you’re going to experience growth.