Are you spiritually hungry? Do you feel hungry for “solid food” and not just for “milk” in your spiritual life? What does it mean to be “spiritually hungry”? It means you want to learn more about the things of God. You want to seek God and get to know Him as a person and as your Father. You have a deep desire in your heart to know Jesus personally. And you have the Holy Spirit inside you who guides you into a deeper relationship with your Creator. The Holy Spirit is like the “translator” that helps you understand what the Word of God says. He reveals the things of God and helps you apply them to your everyday life. I am spiritually hungry!
When you seek Jesus, you will find Him. He will satisfy your hunger in every aspect. He will not only feed you physically by providing financially for your family but will also satisfy your spiritual hunger. In Mark 8:1-10 (NLT) we learn about the story when Jesus fed four thousand people. A large crowd followed Jesus for three days listening to his teachings. By the third day, they had no food, and Jesus didn’t want to send them home without eating because many had come from long distances. Therefore, Jesus asked his disciples to bring whatever bread and food there was available. They found seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.
Jesus first told all the people to sit down on the ground (v6). This is important because our part is to sit and wait in anticipation to be fed. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd (v6).
Jesus first blessed the bread, gave thanks to God, and broke them into pieces. Notice that Jesus was the one who broke the bread into pieces. He took the action of breaking the bread; therefore, He did the miracle! Then He blessed the fish and told the disciples to pass them out. Verse 8 says that they ate until they were full, and when the scraps were picked up, there were seven large baskets of food left over!
The disciples’ job was to obey Jesus and act which was to distribute the blessing of the bread and the fish to the people. This is an illustration of how when we follow Jesus and are hungry for more of Him, He does the miracle of feeding us—both physically and spiritually. What’s more, He will do so abundantly! Meaning, you will have enough for your family and to give to others around you! God doesn’t do anything halfway. He is always thinking big and His love overflows in everything He does for us.
In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 the apostle Paul addresses the church of Corinth saying, Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?
Paul explains to the church of Corinth in that letter that when we just start our walk with Jesus, we are like a baby and can only digest “milk.” But as you grow up in the Lord, learn more about Him and in your relationship with Him, you can now handle “solid food” (or “meat.)” The meat is deeper knowledge of the things of God and a deeper relationship with Him. And the funny thing is, the more you hunger to know God and deepen your relationship with Jesus, the more you discover how little you know. You will want more! The seeking becomes part of your life’s journey walking alongside Jesus here on earth and then in eternity.
I leave you with two powerful scriptures to encourage you to be hungry for God, seek Jesus, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand the Bible!
Matthew 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Are you spiritually hungry? If you seek Jesus, you will not only find the truth and life, but you will get to the Father and will spend eternity in heaven with Him. Let’s thank God that He gave us the One way to get back to Him… Jesus!