For they shall be filled."
--Matthew 5:6
A few times in high school and college, I participated in a fundraising event through World Vision called The Thirty Hour Famine. It was something like a walk-a-thon in that participants collected pledges per hour of fasting up to 30 hours (thus the 30 Hour Familne) and the donations would go to help feed children in third world nations. It was a good cause and a fun way to help others in a small way.I have to say, though, that around the twentieth hour, people are getting pretty edgy, myself most definately included. The empty stomach has a powerful effect on everything else for the body. Tempers fail more easily, fatigue sets in even after a good night's sleep, the brain gets foggy. And this is only 30 hours! I have to say, that first meal after a fast is probably the most satisfying meal you can have. Everything tastes better and the satisfaction of the stomach being filled, the senses sharpening, the energy rising is unparalleled. Again, only 30 hours!
Oh to feel that same kind of satisfaction from drawing near to God. To long so much for His presence that it is like a cool drink after days in the desert; the taste of a morsel of food after days of hunger. Oh to wake up in the morning thinking, "I've gone seven or eight hours without reading God's word." To hunger and thirst for the righteousness that comes from the very presence of God! To want Him more than food and drink. To need Him more than the very air we breathe!
And what a promise to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: they will be filled. They will be completely satisfied in the Lord for He is the ultimate provider of what we truly need. May we all grow to hunger and thirst for more of Jesus and be satisfied by Him alone.
"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?"
--Psalm 42:1-2
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