Hungry
// August 18th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Faith
Saturday I was feeling led to fast and as I read my small group book from back home, I was challenged by it to start memorizing scripture. That has always sounded like a good idea but I’ve never actually gotten around to doing it. But as I fasted I decided today was a good day to start. The obvious verse to start with was Man does live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
As I looked up and meditated on this verse I found out that it was Deuteronomy 8:3. It appears again in Matthew 4:4. The second is a reference to the first. After 40 days fasting in the desert, Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 back to him. Hmmm, Jesus memorized scripture too and used it as a defense against Satan, cool. I was encouraged that the verse I was starting with was the first verse He used in his defense and that there was power in it.
Most of us eat at least three times every day. Some more, some less. If you were an athlete like me you may have eaten 5 or 6 times a day. As Americans in particular, we indulge in food, we delight in food and we crave food. We eat and eat and eat. When we don’t eat, it pains us. We become different people. We become irritable and grumpy. Our bodies cry out, “Feed me!”
We need God’s word more than that. But how often do we crave it? How often do we delight in it? How often do we indulge? What was the last time you had 3 solid meals of the Word in a day much less 5 or 6? The last time you snuck a snack in between meals? Or maybe had a little Word for desert? Have you become grumpy and irritable lately because you are starving for the word? This one the answer may be yes but you don’t realize it. God word’s changes us and makes us more like him. If we aren’t moving towards God, we are moving away from him. So if you aren’t getting a steady diet…
I guess all that is left to say is FEED ME!
I’m going to try to do at least one every week. So hold me accountable.
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This morning I asked my little sister Nicole how she was doing. She told me that everything in her life is bad right now. Oh, the problems of a 12 year old girl. She said the only good thing in her life is that she is Christian. Then she did some simple math for me and told me there are 14 or 15 bad things in her life and only that one good thing. In her mind and in every classroom in the world 15 > 1, but luckily that isn’t the equation. Each of those things has a different value and it so just happens that the one good thing in her life outweighs all the bad things. Christ is sufficient. If we have him and nothing else, it doesn’t matter how many things you stack up on the negative side. He comes out ahead and it isn’t close. Now I just need to explain that a 12 year old girl in Spanish.
