Are You Hungry?
There is no telling how many times I have made a visit to someone's
home and been asked the question, "Are you hungry?" This normally
occurs if the visit is made around mealtime. The lady of the house
will have prepared something for her husband of children and she will
politely invite my appetite to be quenched. I have found that
eating is also a way of bridging the gap of silence between two people.
You know... those moments of silence we have when one looks at the other
and says, "Lets get something to eat."
I want to ask you something too today. "Are you hungry?" If
you are, I know some things you are going to do to satisfy the craving you
have. First, you will plan the meal; next, you will make
preparations; then will come the plight; and finally, you will be
pleasured. Keeping in mind the desire and hunger we are to have for
the Word of God. (Matt 5:6, I Pet 2:2) I think we might find some
spiritual applications to this scenario.
Plan the meal - Have you heard, "Are you trying to cool the entire
neighborhood?" Whenever my parents would walk into the kitchen and
see me standing there staring into the refrigerator, I would hear those
exact words. I was planning my meal around what we had to eat!
There was no sense in my trying to cook a hamburger without any ground
beef in the house! The same is true with our fulfilling our hunger
for God's Word. We need first to make the plans to study; however,
our plans will be for naught if we cannot find our Bibles or if we do not
own one!
Prepare to eat - We should next prepare to eat; that's right, prepare
to eat! If you have ever had a "snack" before a meal, you might have
gone to the table with less of an appetite than you would had you stayed
away from the little bites! I must prepare myself to study by being
focused on my mission. I will not be able to study with thoughts of
sin and worldliness on my mind. (Phil 2:5; Isaiah 59:1,2)
The Plight - When the dinner bells ring, which way do you run -
toward the food or away from the food? If you answered, "It depends
on who's cooking," you are exactly correct! There was once a lady
who loved to cook but was no good at it. She thoughtfully made a man
a pie won time; and after she dropped it off, the man took one bite and
threw it in the trash. The next Lord's day, the lady asked how the
pie was, and the man responded, "Pie like that won't last long around my
house!" You see, if Satan has cooked up a dish of denominationalism
or some other form of false doctrine, we need to run the opposite way of
the plate. If God is serving a dish through sermons, Bible class or
private Bible study, we need to come a'runnin. (Acts 20:28)
Be Pleasured - There is nothing like the last bite of
chicken-'n-dumplings or a juicy blackberry cobbler! I could live off
of these two foods! How much joy do we receive from our study of
God's Word which Christ said, if received, will make one to never thirst
or hunger again? (John 6:35) Truly one who dedicates himself to a
study of God's Word will be satisfied with the findings.
Let us strive to be filled with knowledge and grow in wisdom by
studying God's Word. Plan your next spiritual meal, make the
preparations to attend it, make the plight and enjoy the pleasures that
will be afforded you! Bon appetit!
Kirk Talley
Livingston Church of Christ
