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Are you starving? This is probably a funny question to ask, especially since we just celebrated Thanksgiving and most of us probably ate more than we needed to. For most of us the holiday season includes good food and more desserts than you can shake a stick at. I know I enjoy all the food and treats that we only seem to see at holidays or special occasions.
We are, however, living in a world of people who are starving and they do not even know it. Of course, there are people in this world who are going hungry, but I am not talking about physical hunger. Instead, I am talking about spiritual hunger. A hunger, to the point of starvation that can only be filled by God’s word and obeying His will.
Sadly, even as Christians, we can also be hungry. We may even be starving and not realize it. Doing God’s will by being obedient workers in the kingdom is one of the ways Jesus taught His disciples to be filled. Jesus sent His disciples to go buy food while He rested by a well near the city of Sychar. When the disciples returned with food, Jesus was busy teaching a Samaritan woman who came to draw water from the well. When the disciples offer Jesus food, instead of eating, Jesus makes it clear that the most important thing for Him is to complete the work God sent Him to do. “Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat something.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work” (John 4:31-34).
In order to be fulfilled spiritually, maturing and growing as a Christian should, we must work for the Lord. God has blessed us with talents to accomplish His work which also feeds us spiritually.
Brad Tolbert
Monticello church of Christ
Monticello, AR