Like everybody else in the world, you and I have to eat food every day in order to survive physically. It takes time to do this, and also some effort to dig the food from the ground or pick it from vines or trees. No one has successfully made a pill or capsule to take, in place of eating food itself.
Likewise, our souls need spiritual food if we are to survive spiritually. Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6). A good appetite is a marvelous "blessing," to be able to feel hungry and thirsty--ah, what delight, to sit down then to a good square meal!
But a sick person feels no such appetite. I remember once when I had severe hepatitis, ordinarily delicious mashed potatoes and gravy tasted like sawdust with engine oil poured on them. I had to be healed before I could enjoy food again. If you are not hungry for spiritual food from the Bible itself, if you prefer reading light religious novels, you are feasting on cotton candy instead of whole-wheat bread. And spiritual weakness or even paralysis will be the sure result.
If you do feel hungry, rejoice; come and eat. If you are sensitive enough and honest enough to realize that you don't have an appetite, that you are actually starving spiritually, then here's what you must do: get on your knees, humble your heart before the God of heaven, and beg Him to give you an appetite. Be sincere and straightforward enough to let Him do it--turn off your TV and radio and CDs, and stay on your knees and "listen" for His "voice." Get serious. If Jesus were to invite you to dinner and set an empty plate before you with a knife and fork, say "Thank You!" immediately. Likewise, even though your Bible seems as dull and unpromising as an empty plate at dinner time, tell the Lord "Thank You," and believe that He is faithful to keep His promise and give you some delicious "bread of life." He Himself, not I, has promised He will not give you a stone! (Matt. 7:7-11).
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 5, 1998.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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