Are You Hungry?

Have you ever been hungry?  I mean really hungry.  I don't recall ever experiencing real hunger.  Oh, there were times when I was sent to bed without dinner (a consequence I should have received more often).  And there have been times when I have expressed, "I'm starving."  But in all reality, I have never been THAT hungry.

In John 4:31-38, we read an account that brings to mind a different view regarding food and hunger.  Jesus had just met 'the woman at the well', a Samaritan to whom He offered Living Water.  And now His disciples return to offer Christ sustenance.  He responded, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."  Adding, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work."

The difference between the food the disciples offered and the food that sustained Jesus, one is materialistic and the other is spiritual. 

This tends to be the same struggle Christians have today.  We often allow our desire for the material things of this world to distract us from the spiritual food that will sustain us.  We desire to feed our physical bodies while our spirits starve to be fed.

So I return to my initial question, have you ever been hungry?  I have, spiritually speaking.  There are times when I starve my spirit.  Often this is due to sin in my life blinding me to my spiritual need by emphasizing the pleasures that sin offers.  Other times busyness is the cause of spiritual neglect.  I concentrate so much on doing 'church work' that I am blinded to what God really wants me to be doing.

To open the eyes of the disciples, Jesus said, "Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest."  In other words, get your eyes off of yourself and see there are people with spiritual hunger, people dying.