Celeste Forrest, Guest Writer
What are you hungry for?
I mean, right now?
Does a juicy bacon-cheeseburger sound good to you? Or does the sound of hummus and pita bread make your mouth water? Perhaps you are craving a warm plate of freshly made pumpkin tarts with a glass of hot chai tea? Or are you even hungry at all?
Now, when your stomach does begins to growl and you get that aching, empty feeling in your gut, what do you usually do to satisfy that hunger? Do you just sit there and expect your hunger to go away?
You might be thinking to yourself, “Well, duh, Celeste, you go and eat something.”
Well, that is a no-brainer. When your belly is telling you it needs food, you do what you can to fulfill that request, whether it is snacking on a granola bar or heading to Sodexo for (hopefully) a good meal.
Now, can I ask you another question? Have you ever been so extremely hungry, that nothing you ate could completely still that hunger? As in, you just finished a full plate of nachos and two burritos and your friend’s half-finished pizza and you are still starving?
Now, I am guessing that very few of you have been there. I can honestly tell you right now that I know I have not. When I am hungry, I eat until I am full, and then I am done. Never have I eaten so much food, I was still starving afterwards. However, I can tell you about one thing that I am still starving for, and no matter what I do, I just cannot seem to satisfy this particular hunger.
This hunger is the desire to spread the love of Jesus Christ.
Whoah. That escalated quickly.
But let me explain where I’m going with this. Hunger is so easy to satisfy. All we have to do is eat something to make our stomach happy. On the other hand, if we have a Lord and Savior living in our hearts, why can we not just as easily express the love of the Living God in order to make His heart happy?
The hunger in your heart, the desire to demonstrate love to others, should never be the type of hunger you want to still. It should be a continuous hunger, a burning hunger. All human beings were created with the desire to be loved and to give love, and God has called us to express His love to others through our words and actions. This is not a request, this is a commandment. (Mark 12:31 ESV) “The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
There are people starving in our neighborhoods, our communities, our country and our world. We are so privileged in this nation that most of us do not understand the true meaning of starving, as food is so easily attainable. In the same sense, there are people starving for love, and, as Christians, we have exactly what we need to help those people satisfy the emptiness they feel in their hearts.
By demonstrating God’s love for others, we are helping others find the thing they are hungering for–a transforming, faultless love that can only be found through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. Let the hunger in your heart not only be the hunger to show love but to tell others about Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, for what is greater than expressing your love to someone than through leading him/her to salvation?
I may not be hungry for a cheeseburger or a slice of pumpkin pie, but what I am starving for is to spread God’s love through expressing His Word.
So, today, I challenge you:
Be hungry.