21 Days of Deep LivingExemplo

Hunger Pangs

During these 21 days of Deep Living and beyond, we are seeking to hear God more, see God’s Plan for our lives, and walk in His Purpose.

To do this, there must be a burning desire to be more Righteous. Scripture states that God is Holy, and the Fall of Adam and perpetual shortcomings of mankind had caused a separation between us and God. But in Romans chapters 4 and 5, it outlines how we, through Faith, have been made Righteous, therefore gaining access to God’s Grace and Presence in our lives. Because of Christ’s Righteous Nature and our Faith in His Sacrifice being counted as Righteousness, a close and intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father is now possible.

We can see when we look at passages like Matthew 6:33 that Righteousness is paramount. For us to live a life pleasing to God, we need to be Righteous. Hebrews 11:6 says that without Faith it’s impossible to please God, so Faith and Righteousness go hand in hand. We are made Righteous by Christ through Faith, and in Romans 10:17, we know that “...Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ” (ESV). So in essence, we attain Righteousness by acquainting ourselves with the Word of God and living in Faith.

With our physical bodies, we have a hormone called Ghrelin that signals to our bodies that we are hungry. It’s common knowledge that we need food and water to sustain ourselves in order to survive, so just imagine if we didn’t have the mechanism that told us that we actually need to eat and drink. Disaster - even worse, death!

Similarly, in our Spiritual Walk, we need to go after Righteousness on a regular basis and fill ourselves with the Righteousness of God through His Word. Like in Psalm 42:1, we should have a thirst for God that only He can satisfy. A lack of God’s Righteousness in our lives is Spiritual Death, so our pursuit for Righteousness goes beyond mere desire - it is a necessity! In fact, when Jesus was being tempted by Satan in Matthew 4, He told him that 'it is written: that man should not live by bread alone but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God."

What an assurance Jesus gives us in Matthew 6:33, that if we prioritize seeking after His Righteousness, the other things that we have as less important concerns or desires will be taken care of. David confirms this in his own account in Psalm 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread” (ESV).

As we fast from physical food in these next 21 days, we get an insight into the anguish and pain that our spirit man goes through when we deprive it of the Word of God. Let the hunger pangs be a reminder that we must quench the thirst and satisfy the hunger of our spirit by pursuing Righteousness through Faith by going deeper with God.