The Delight of Hunger

One great challenge that faces preachers is to feed those with the word of God who are already full.  We have all had the experience of finishing a satisfying, filling meal at a restaurant to have the waiter offer the dessert menu.  The pictures might be appealing to one who is hungry, but the sweet offerings are not remotely tempting when there is no room inside!  Restaurants are filled with patrons who came with the express purpose of eating, and once their hunger is satisfied they head off to other activities.

The same can be true when it comes to feeding on God's word.  Unlike our stomachs which are filled with food and drink, our minds and hearts can be filled with a vast array of ideas, doctrines, agendas, affections, questions and doubts.  Sometimes a doubt can be so great nothing can displace it from a mind even after all questions have been accurately answered because they will not receive the truth by faith.  I have found social media and online interactions provide a mirage of genuine engagement and discourse, for most comments are either a provocative shot across the bow, carefully crafted to draw into a quarrel, or an opinion posed as fact without desire to actually consider a different perspective.  Ever so often, however, there are people hungry for more than information--but for God and His word.

As a hungry person must ingest food and drink in person, so the best interactions I have had with others is in person.  When a person is really hungry, they are not interested to look at menus, consider ingredients and pricing or see pictures with their eyes:  they want to receive the real thing.  This was true in a spiritual sense concerning the Gentles in Antioch mentioned in Acts 13:42-44:  "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God."  Paul and Barnabas had preached in the Synagogue to people largely hardened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet there were others who were hungry to hear the word of God.  After the gathering Paul and Barnabas met with those who followed them in response to the message, they "persuaded them to continue in the grace of God."

Here we see most fruitful combinations:  hungry people receiving the word of God and God's people persuading others to continue in the grace of God.  Our physical hunger comes and goes as we snack or eat a meal, but spiritual hunger to receive God's truth and fellowship with the brethren is truly insatiable.  Even after we have eaten spiritually we are enabled and equipped to share what we have received, for observe how almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God:  not to be fed, not to be physically healed, not to be baptised or have demons cast out.  When the congregation broke they looked forward to gathering together again to hear the word of God as they continued in the grace of God.  Such hunger for God's word is a delight, for God has the words of life that satisfy our souls.

When a person is hungry, they will be the instigator.  They do not need to be cajoled, bribed, convinced or pressured into eating because they actually want to eat!  The same is true concerning the word of God:  people hungry for the truth of God's word will open the Bible themselves and desire to hear the Bible taught so they might walk in faith according to it.  Save the presence of the God Himself, there is nothing more enjoyable for a preacher or teacher than to personally engage with seekers or believers who are hungry for the word of God.  In that moment there is a sense of doing what you were created to do, having fellowship with God and one another by faith in His grace.