Hunger: The Endless Longing for MoreSample

Hunger is the Davidic DNA

For better or worse, you probably take after your parents in some ways. If you have kids, it’s likely you’ve noticed how they take after you too. Some of what you’ve inherited or passed on is nurture – learned behavior – and some of it is nature – part of your DNA. David is described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). That means he took after God. He thought, felt, and behaved in a way that honored God and resembled the character of God. And it’s possible for us, too, to develop Davidic DNA: becoming people who hunger for God, taking after Him by aligning ourselves with Him and His ways.

Hunger for God means constantly longing for and seeking after God’s heart. David expresses this hunger for God in Psalm 42:1-2: ‘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. When can I go and meet with God?’ Perhaps you’ve known seasons of this kind of desperation for God’s presence. Perhaps at other times, your soul has thirsted for something else more than for God. Perhaps you could allow David’s relentless, contagious hunger for God to inspire you to live a life that endlessly enjoys abiding in His presence. Try to be intentional about hanging out with people who exhibit this kind of passion and learn from their habits, priorities, or patterns of decision-making.

David’s words in Psalm 63 further reveal his longing for God and his understanding that life apart from God is empty and futile. This psalm indicates that the great benefit of seeking God with all your heart is the privilege of experiencing His power and glory, which transforms us into His likeness. A.W. Tozer said, ‘God is never found accidentally,’ implying that we need to choose to chase after God relentlessly, intentionally, and wholeheartedly. When humankind fell into sin, we lost fellowship with God. We became hardened by sin and resistant to loving God and others. And yet, even though we were filthy and rebellious, God pursued us with His redeeming love. Let’s begin to be deliberate about pursuing God in the great romance, just as He pursued us. We must begin to desire Him above all things. We must seek Him first and spend all our waking moments with Him in true communion. It is the living consciousness of Him that helps us carry Him about in our thoughts.

If you have never accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour of your life, may you do so today. Allow Him to transform the depths of your being with His love. May you know that to seek God with all your heart is to find Him. And may you know that to find Him is to become more like Him and to experience the riches of His glory.