What Are You Hungry For?
Have you ever been so hungry that you felt like you would do anything for a bite of food? I was recently reminded of three stories in the Bible where people were so hungry that they were willing to take these extreme lengths: eat food given to pigs (the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32); give up an inheritance/birthright (Esau in Genesis 25:19-34); and go back to slavery (the Israelites in Exodus 16:1-36).
But what I find so interesting in all three of these stories isn’t their hunger itself, but what God did next, in response to their hunger. And I believe there are three key takeaways that He wants to show us through His Word:
1. If you’re hungry for belonging, God invites you to come home
The story of the prodigal son tells us that he got himself into a place where he not only was without food, but he was without his family and without somewhere he could call home. Essentially, he hit rock bottom. Have you ever felt like that? When the prodigal son realized what his life had come to, he said with humility and repentance, “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:18-19).
But what did his father do as soon as he saw his son? He was “filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). This is the picture of OUR Father. He can’t force us come home to Him, but He is waiting. No matter what we’ve done or how far we’ve gone astray, He is waiting to embrace us with compassion and receive us with joy when we come home to Him.
“I tell you…there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7)
2. If you’re hungry for a blessing, God invites you to inherit His Kingdom
Can you imagine how hungry you’d have to be in order to give up a birthright—that is, inherited rights and privileges for the rest of your life—for a bowl of soup? That’s exactly what Esau did. In his hunger, he gave up his inheritance. And later on, when he realized what he had given up, he “held a grudge against (his brother) Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him” and planned to kill Jacob (Genesis 27:41). But how does the story end? The brothers were apart for some time, and during this time, God worked in both Esau’s and Jacob’s hearts. When they finally crossed paths again, Esau didn’t try to kill Jacob; instead, he “ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him” (Genesis 33:4), and they both wept. Isn’t it interesting how Esau’s response mirrors that of the prodigal son’s father?
To me, this story represents God’s grace and the amazing inheritance we can have—not because of any rights that we deserve or try to earrn—but because of Jesus. God’s only son gave up everything—he left his father’s side and came down to earth to live a human life and to die a gruesome death—so that WE could be “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). That’s an inheritance that we shouldn’t trade for the world—both figuratively and literally.
“Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay” (1 Peter 1:3-4)
3. If you’re hungry for comfort, God invites you into His presence
In Exodus, the Bible tells us that the Israelites were so hungry that they said they wished they could go back into slavery in Egypt instead of continuing their journey towards the land that God had promised, for “there we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted” (Exodus 16:3).
What did God do next? He sent down food from heaven—but not just any kind of food. He sent down a bread called manna, along with specific instructions. The Israelites were instructed to only gather enough for one day at a time (except for on the sixth day, when they were instructed to gather enough to enjoy on the Sabbath). God not only fed them, but He showed them that they needed to learn how to trust in and rely on God for their daily needs. And in His grace, He showed them that they didn’t need to worry about the day ahead, for He would continue to walk alongside them and make sure that they’d never go hungry—physically or spiritually. The Lord Himself told the Israelites through Moses, “In the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 16:12).
“Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Faather knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” (Matthew 6:31-34)
One of Satan’s tactics is to try and take our eyes off of God and onto worldly things that we might be tempted to think will satisfy us. Sin was brought into the world when Satan tempted Eve with food—fruit that he said would make her be like God. He even tried to tempt Jesus by “playing on his hunger” (Luke 4:3 MSG). But how did Jesus respond? He said, “It takes more than bread to really live” (Luke 4:4 MSG).
We need to respond to Satan’s temptations the way Jesus did. We of course need food to live in our earthly bodies, but we must not fall into the devil’s temptations to fill the void that only Jesus can fill, with things of this world. What is it you’re desperately hungry for today? Acceptance? Validation? Love? And what are you turning to in attempts to get it? My prayer for you today is that instead, you will receive a new hunger—for His love, for His presence, for His goodness—and His Word promises that you WILL be filled.
“Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35)
