Hunger For God

 By: Grace Metzger

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭15‬:‭32‬ ‭ESV

I was listening to a sermon recently when the pastor mentioned the story of Jesus feeding the 4,000. I loved this story as a child so the first thing I did was when I left church was pulled out my Bible and started reading it. Very quickly I found this verse that spoke me. These people were listening and just being there with Jesus for three whole days and they weren’t even ready to go home. In fact, they weren’t leaving until Jesus sent them away. I thought about our world right now and it sadden me to know that people no longer hunger for God’s Word like that anymore. 

I thought about what I’ve been seeing lately, with people not able to sit in the sanctuary for a full service, people complaining if the pastor goes too long, Christians who can’t stay off their phone long enough to listen to a sermon, and people even complaining about being at a service for too many days a week. These people sat outside and listened to Jesus speak for three whole days and we can’t even give God our attention in service a couple hours each week. 

When I spoke to someone about this they said that it wasn’t the same because these the 4000 were getting to be in Jesus’ physical presence but I would argue we get something even better then that, we get to spend time in His spiritual presence. Yet most of the time we view this as a chore on a to do list. 

We don’t have that hunger for God anymore. We have more access to God then people in the past, more access to Bibles, more access to churches, etc. But yet we take all of this for granted. 

Don’t get me wrong, as someone who’s worked in ministries for 13 years I get how sometimes things can get hard, but I always believe that going to church is a time to be in His house, be in His presence, and worship Him with fellow believers. How amazing is it that we can do that!! How amazing is it that we don’t have to travel hundreds of miles in the desert to go to the temple! 

My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭84‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I want to see a generation of believers who long for the courts of the Lord! I want to see us to be so in love with God that we want to be in the Church doors every time they’re open. I don’t want us to take for grant how blessed we are that we are able to be there. 

Discussion Question: How do you ensure you keep your hunger for God?