HUNGRY FOR HIS WORD

The Three Hungers

Hebrews 4:12;  Colossians 3:16; I Peter 2:2, Amos 8:11; Hebrews 5:14

While I was studying this topic.  I looked up the definition of hungry. I know we all know what it means to be and feel hungry.  We usually relate it to food.  But I decided to look it up anyway and the following definitions stood out to me. 

Hungry Definition 

1. having a desire, craving, or need for food         Physical
2. Eager, Avid – Strongly Motivated;  Strongly or eagerly desirous         Mental
3. not rich or fertile: Barren.    Lacking needful or desirable elements; not fertile; poor       Spiritual 

Within those definitions it stood out to me that being hungry is Physical, Mental, and Spiritual.  The Word of God gives examples of all  three.  In I Peter 2:2 it tells that we should hunger for the word like pure milk.  It will nurture and grow us up spiritually.  After we have grown some from the milk we should move on further unto spiritual meat (Hebrews 5:14) But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil..

Being Hungry for the Word is Mental. Colossians 3:16 Amp says to let the Word of Christ dwell in your heart and mind, Permeating every aspect of your being.  The hunger for the Word creates a strong desire to live for the Lord in every aspect of your life.  Everything we do should reflect Jesus.  How we handle others should reflect Jesus.  

The Word is spiritual.  That should be a given.  Hebrews 4:12 talks about how the word of God is quick, powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. It penetrates our soul and spirit  and goes deep into both our joints and marrow, the most inner parts of us.  Hebrew  4:12 covers all definitions of Hungry, the physical ( two edged sword),  the Mental (quick and full of power), and spiritual (it exposes the very thoughts and intentions of the heart).  

But what I found interesting in the third definition of hungry was: Barren,  lacking needful or desirable elements: not fertile or poor.  That gave me pause. How can that be related to hunger? Then I am came across Amos 8:11 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD , that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:”   The prophet speaks of how the people of Israel had sinned and God had pronounced his judgment on them.  They started to reap what they had sown spiritually.  They had turned away from God over and over again and punishment was now on the land. At that point they started to seek for the Word of the Lord again and couldn’t find it.  They had spiritually bankrupted themselves.  As people of God we don’t want to wait until we are spiritually empty to hunger for God’s word. We want to continue craving and strengthening ourselves in God’s Word.

 It starts with us doing the physical part: reading the word, then when it gets into our hearts and mind (mental), then flows through us into our lives (spiritual).   Let us Hunger for God’s Word and not depart from it.