As Christmas approaches and many of us are doing some form of Advent devotional or study, it is good to check our hearts every minute of the day to make sure we are seeking God and thinking of His Son Jesus’ sacrifice, rather than being so caught up in the food, gifts, and festivities. Finding ways to turn all of it into an act of worship is very challenging as the commercialism and greed takes us over this time of year.
It becomes a battle as we try to — “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30 (NIV)
I have continued to read the book I mentioned last week, “FULL Food, Jesus, And The Battle For Satisfaction” by Asheritah Ciuciu. Chapter four of the book has the title “Stir Up a Holy Hunger.” And that is exactly what I want to do. Asheritah says, “Through out Scripture, men and women of God use the imagery of hunger and thirst to describe their desire for Him.” (p.88) She references the words of Psalm 63, written when David was “most likely” fleeing for his life from his son Absalom. Asheritah points out that in God’s presence David had found satisfaction “as with the richest of foods.” (see p. 89)
Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (ESV)
“In order to be satisfied in God, we must first hunger and thirst for Him.” (FULL, p. 90)
“…We will never truly be satisfied as long as we are craving something other than Him.” (FULL, p. 91)
Asheritah writes, “I think we’re often afraid of admitting our indifference toward God, for fear that He will strike us dead. But think of it—God already knows the state of our hunger (or lack thereof) for Him…. we must examine our spiritual appetites for God and honestly assess ourselves. ” (p. 94)
Asheritah describes her first prayers for going deeper with God. They began like this:
“Lord, if I’m completely honest, I don’t really hunger for You. I don’t thirst for You. I’m okay doing my own thing, but I don’t want to live this way anymore. Give me a hunger and thirst for You. Change my cravings from food to You. Amen.” (pp. 91-92)
The next morning… she “prayed that same prayer and added, ‘Deeper, Lord. I want to go deeper with You. Do whatever it takes to shake me from this apathy, and awaken a hunger within me.” (p. 92)
And then… there was a break through as she says… “I can’t point to any specific instance and say ‘That’s when I began hungering for God.’ I just know that as I sought Him with all my heart, he rewarded me with more of Himself. The more I hungered, the more He satisfied; and the more He satisfied, the more insatiable my appetite became.” (p. 93)
And that’s what I want this Christmas!
More than anything else anyone could give me, I want an “insatiable” hunger for God above anything else this Christmas.
I am still, very highly, recommending Asheritah’s book. It is such a help to get to the heart of our issues and make a plan to turn to God completely in every aspect of life. If anyone asks you what they can get you for Christmas. Ask for the book!😉
Have a great week!