You'll ruin your appetite...

As a kid I remember barreling into the house after playing long and hard, and feeling as if I might not make it because I was so hungry. "I'm starving!" I'd announce, with some dramatic flair. Mom was in the kitchen making supper, and I'd whisk past her to the drawer that held cookies, and sometimes candy. Without even looking up from the potatoes she was peeling, mom would say, "Do NOT eat those. You'll ruin your appetite."

"Mom, I thought that was the point! I am hungry and I want to ruin that feeling." For years I thought she was simply saying she didn't want her hard work of making supper going for naught. Of course, what she really meant (in addition to that) is eating sugary treats gives you a false sense of being full. The sugar high doesn't really last, but if eaten right before a meal you won't want the real nutrients your body needs. Apparently man does not live by Snickers alone.

I often wonder why I don't have a stronger hunger for God like I read in Scripture: "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." (Psalm 42:1-2) "Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth, there is nothing I desire besides You." (Psalm 73:25) I confess that's not the way I always want or desire God.

It can seem that hunger for God is as fickle as the weather. It comes and goes in various degrees of intensity, but what you do doesn't affect the patterns. We have weather forecasters, but not weather formers. Yet if my physical hunger is directly impacted by certain actions, then there could be important spiritual parallels.

Perhaps, when I don't desire God like I should, it's because I have been ruining my spiritual appetite with all manner of spiritual junk food. Maybe not even "junk" food, but stuff that really isn't intended to be the main dish. If I constantly run to them when I feel the first hunger pangs for peace, or joy, or love in my life, I will ruin my appetite for the main dish of God's life truly filling me.

Jesus teaches us that "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. " (Matthew 5:6) Maybe the blessing begins when we allow ourselves to really feel hungry instead of rushing to ruin our appetite with anything or anyone that will take the edge off that sensation of need. Ultimately I listened to my mother because I knew she really was preparing a meal that would satisfy me. Hunger is a blessing if you know the One who can fill and satisfy you, and that He will.

I pray we can all stay hungry and thirsty, and practice the spiritual exercise of delaying instant gratification for the very best that God has for us.