May 8 Devotion: Are We Hungry?

Are We Hungry?

Matthew 4:1-4

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. [2] And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. [3] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. [4] But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Our text today, we find the devil tempting Jesus. We know that after this, the devil goes on two more times to tempt Jesus in this same passage. You’ll find then in vs. 10 Jesus telling Satan to get thee hence, and in vs. 11, you’ll find angels come and minister unto Him.

I want to focus on two words found in verse 2. The phrase “an hungered”. This word “an” here isn’t used the same way we would think today. We would say go get an onion or something like that. Here it’s used more of an intensifying word. Therefore, it makes this more like He was very hungry, or extremely hungry. I’d venture to say we’ve all been there at some point. Maybe you skipped a meal or got so busy you didn’t stop to eat. You then realized you were maybe even “starving” so to speak. You might even have times where you aren’t necessarily hungry, but have something you crave.

How hungry are we for the things of God? Do we crave His presence? When was the last time we prayed for the Lord to show up in a service or in our lives like never before? I wonder if we aren’t so blessed that we don’t truly seek His presence like we should. We become accustomed to just having church service like normal, and we are okay with that. We aren’t like that with our normal food, so why should we treat the spiritual the same way? I’m sure my household is no different than most. You have certain meals you have on a normal basis. They are good. They’re reliable. They are in a nice rotation. Then some days you just want something more. So you might spend a little more time in the preparation. You might spend some time marinating or seasoning a steak. Possibly you put something in a smoker. Things that just take more time to prepare. Do we put that same kind of preparation into going to church? Are we prayed up? Have we sought God to the point where we can’t wait to get to church and see just how big He will show up? Or, are we just okay with the normal? The normal will suffice because then we feel like there are less expectations out of our own lives that way?

Are we hungry to see God move? Are we hungry to see Him show up in ways we’ve never seen before?

God bless,

Bro. Josh Richardson