BY HUNTER GREENE
I love food. I find it amazing that the scrawny kid that would only eat pizza, chicken nuggets, and macaroni fifteen years ago has now turned into a man that has no problem finishing a meal…or two. Luckily, my tastes have expanded as well. I’m still not a huge vegetable eater, but I do my best to eat an adequate amount. Other than that, I will try most things, especially when I’m hungry.
Our bodies do this cool thing when we get hungry, and it makes our stomachs growl. Some of us get headaches. Some of us lose focus or get fatigued. But like a lot of things in life, sometimes we get so focused on the symptoms rather than the actual problem. Many of us just think about how being hungry affects our bodies instead of seeing that our body is sending us a message. That message is that if we don’t eat, we die.
I want you to think about the fact that God has intricately woven our physical and spiritual selves together. Our bodies must eat to survive, and I believe our souls must eat to survive. Many of us have no problem running to the buffet when we are in need of physical food, but many of us, myself included, are much slower when it comes to running to the table of God to receive spiritual sustenance and nutrition.
John 6:32-38 reads, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”
There is a great temptation in our society to immediately and unconsciously run to the world’s physical bread when it is our soul that is rumbling and growling. We try to fill the gaps in our lives with more money, more comfort, and more sin. I must admit that this does fill us for a season. Bread will fill you for a meal, but we all know that our hunger will return.
Some of us keep treating our spiritual starvation as if it is a physical problem. Making more money and having a perfect life will not cause your soul’s deepest longings to disappear. In some ways, it makes them stronger. Your soul was created to feast upon the eternal Bread of Life. It was formed that it would be hydrated from the Living Water. You were meant to be filled.
Many of you are tired of being hungry. Tired of being empty. Tired of being tired. The solution to your problem doesn’t require more work. It doesn’t require more effort. The solution just requires more Jesus. When we put our hope and trust in the temporary and limited resources of the world, our lives whittle away like a crumbled slice of bread. There is a reason the grocery bagger puts your bread on the top of the bag. The physical things of this world are not sufficient to build a foundation for your life.
You can trust that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You can trust that if we crucify our flesh with Christ, then He will ultimately show us what the abundant life truly looks like. You can trust that if you disregard the approval of men and live for the approval of God, then you will most certainly be filled to the uttermost.
We can’t expect to live faithfully for God if we don’t seek Him faithfully every day. If we don’t eat, we don’t survive. If we fail to seek Him, we don’t live.
(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton, and his associate, Hunter Greene)