No more junk food

Since heart patients must weigh themselves every day, I was a bit dismayed when I got on the scales yesterday. After a Thanksgiving weekend of rich food and many opportunities to enjoy it with family and friends, my weight took a jump. I suspected it had more to do with salt and water retention and was glad this morning to see it back near normal.

Today’s devotional is about spiritual hunger and the satisfaction of being filled by the Spirit of God. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)

Most of us know the satisfaction of a meal and being able to say, “I’ve had sufficient.” We also know that this does not last forever as we work or move about, then become hungry again and need to again eat food. In one way, this is like being filled with the Spirit. It happens, but when we sin and stop relying on God we need to be filled again. It is a life-long cycle.

Yet in another way, there is a difference. Jesus used eating and feeding on Him to illustrate another spiritual principle:

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:32–40)

The satisfaction of having God’s Spirit fill me and give me all that I need for decision-making, being godly toward others, glorifying the Lord and living according to His Word is always available in Jesus Christ. He is the Bread of life and the only One who satisfies my desire for a life above the mundane, an abundant life that is focused on eternal values and brings total satisfaction.

As Tozer says, physical hunger and thirst are physical sensations which, in their acute stages, may become real pain. I’m not able to do much of anything if hunger or thirst has weakened or even distracted me. My attention turns from God and the needs of others to my own desires and problems. As Tozer also says, God is ready and willing to fill me, yet gives me the choice of eating and drinking as I decide. Too often, my fare is not His provision but something of my own ability or invention and it does not come even close to the satisfaction and fullness that He gives.

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, to think that ‘I can do it myself’ is a human delusion fed by the enemy of my soul. I sometimes walk away from a thanksgiving spiritual banquet to a hasty of scraps and leftovers, thinking it will do. How silly. Forgive me again for failing to seek You when I feel needy and hungry, thirsty and empty. Your promise is amazing — You are the Bread of life, the Water of life that satisfies always and forever. May You continually remind me so that all junk food becomes a thing of the past and my hungry heart always goes first to You!