We have three children and at different points they have all come to Naomi or me with the same plea for food, '...but I'm starving....if I don't get some food I'm going to die...'. (I'm sure that I did the same to my parents.) They really did believe they were starving, famished, ravenous. If a morsel of food was not to soon pass over their lips their very lives would escape them.
Each time they came with that cry I knew they were not starving. I knew that the actual state of their hunger was greatly exaggerated. They may have thought they were starving but they were far from it.
Those childhood moments make a point very clear to me. It is quite easy to be self deceived about our hunger level. I know that even in the face of those anguished declarations had I produced a Disneyland brochure their supposed hunger pangs would have immediately subsided.
This self deception and misplaced satisfaction doesn't just happen with food.
It happens with our hunger for more of Jesus. We can fool ourselves about our actual level of hunger for more of Jesus in our lives. The Bible gives us a litmus test for our actual hunger level
Proverbs 27:7 says, " A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry."
All I need to do is pause and reflect on my life and I can quickly determine the level of my hunger for Jesus. Do I pass over, or push back from sweet opportunities to worship, linger in God's presence, take time to enjoy reading His Word (these are just a few examples). Do I embrace the more difficult (bitter) tasks in life - sacrificing my time in service, adjusting my schedule to walk with those in pain and dysfunction, dying to myself with opinions, perspectives and communication that does not add to the unity of the Body?
With just a quick reflection I can safely conclude that I am nowhere near as hungry as I thought I was. I am nowhere near as hungry as I want to be, and need to be. I have allowed my hunger pangs (we all have them) to be drowned out and satisfied with so many other things.
Why don't you take the Proverbs 27:7 test and see what your true hunger level is and then respond accordingly.
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