My last post was about God and Ice-cream. For those of you who missed it and are wondering how in the world those two things relate, check it out here.
Basically I’ve been learning about my great need for spending quality time with God. Just like a snack here and there isn’t enough to satisfy a body, listening to Christian radio on your way to work or just going to church on Sunday isn’t enough to satisfy our souls.
We were made to spend time with God, to hunger after him and be filled by Him.
We were made to Feast.
But sometimes knowing the truth and applying the truth are two very different things.
Today I want to give you a few guidelines on how to cultivate a heavenly appetite by walking through one of my favorite psalms, Psalm 63.
“O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.” vs. 1
The first step to cultivating a heavenly appetite is to be hungry.
Sounds simple enough, but unfortunately our natural inclinations are to hunger after anything but God. We desire fame, popularity, relationships, money, thrills, but no matter how much you fill yourself with those things, you’ll still be hungry in the end. Just like physical groans and pain come from a lack of nourishment, giving no attention to our relationship with God results in a hollow, painful existence.
Life is empty without Him.
Experiencing hunger is the first step to cultivating a heavenly appetite. As Jesus himself said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” -Matthew 5:6
“So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.” -vs. 2
The second step: Go to the source of Life.
Sometimes when we start getting hungry, we turn to the wrong things. We don’t like the ache in our stomachs but we don’t always like the solution either. The truth is, the groaning in your stomach isn’t going to leave you alone until you go to the one who can quiet it.
Jesus is the living water and the bread of life and the only one who can truly satisfy us.
As I said earlier, christian radio, podcasts and following bible verse daily on social media are not enough to satisfy the cravings of your soul. They can be great encouragements and additions to your spiritual life, but they cannot be the extent of your relationship with God.
When you haven’t spent much time at the banquet of God it can feel a little awkward at first. You might be unpracticed. But dig into the word, wrestle with your flesh in the battle of prayer. And keep digging. Keep wrestling. Keep feasting. As Hebrews 11:6 says, “He rewards those who diligently seek him.”
“Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.” vs. 3-5
After you go to the source, the third step to cultivating a heavenly appetite is to enjoy the source of life.
God wants us to glory in his presence. He wants us to find our joy and peace in Him. Take the time to savor his very presence- when you go on a walk, instead of sticking in your ear-buds and jamming out to your favorite music, talk to God. When you step out from work and see a beautiful sunset, instead of rushing to take out your phone and snap a picture to post on facebook, thank God for the beautiful gift and praise Him for his beauty and mercy.
Sometimes when you’ve cultivated an appetite for french fries and chocolate cake, kale and bananas just don’t cut it for you.
In the same way, it can take intentional practice and “detoxifying” if you will from the natural tendencies of our flesh to truly savor the goodness of Gods presence.
If you’re complaining that you don’t have the time to read Gods word, maybe you could cut out that hour of The Great British Bake Off you like to watch every night. Or how much would it hurt if you woke up just 20 minutes earlier to spend time in the Throne Room of God praying?
To love God, we must know him. And as in any relationship, to know a person, you must spend time with them.
There is no greater joy and no greater undertaking than the pursuit of the King of Kings.
Devote yourself to him. Spend time feasting at his table. And I promise in time you will declare as David did, “He fills my life with good things, so that I am strong like an eagle.” -Psalm 103:5
“When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.” -vs. 6-8
Finally, to cultivate a heavenly appetite, you must realize your necessity for the source of life.
I love that phrase in verse 8, “my soul follows close behind you.”
When you put down the fast food and begin partaking in what truly fuels your soul, you realize how effective you can be. Suddenly you are full of love when you never had love before. You have peace when you never had peace before.
Since you’re not so focused on quieting the groans inside your own soul, you can lead others to the source of Life and help them quiet theirs.
When you taste of the Lords goodness, you realize that had you kept living off your junk-food diet, you would have died.
We need Christ desperately.
This is the paradox of Christianity: The more you are full of Christ, the more hungry you get. The more you know him, the more you realize how little you know of him, which drives you to know him more.
As A.W. Tozer once stated,
“To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love.”
I know cultivating a heavenly appetite is hard. Sometimes its just so much easier to grab a burger from the drive-thru then to take the time to sit at the table of God. Our flesh craves comfort. But our flesh also craves what cannot satisfy and what ultimately will destroy.
As Jesus said in John 4:13-14, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
He alone can fill us, friends. He alone can satisfy.
Keep choosing him. Keep following after him.
Stay steadfast and devoted but most of all,
stay hungry.
