Godly Appetite

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."—Matthew 5:6

Are you hungry for heaven? God’s Word continually speaks to our appetites, and our appetites are clear indicators that God exists. How so? If I feel hungry, then don’t I know that food exists? If I feel a desire for rest, then I know that sleep exists. If I have a desire for beauty, then beauty must exist. If I have a desire for sex, then sex must exist. All of this comes back to God, who has “put eternity into man’s heart” —Ecclesiastes 3:11. Because we have an innate desire for God, He must exist, which is where faith comes in. As Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” Our appetites for food, sleep, sex, are all signs that point to the greater desire for God. We hunger for food, but we also have hunger for justice, for the vindication of things, and for things to be done rightly. All of these hungers, when brought under subjection to the Spirit of God, act as lasers that point to the Person of God. By faith, we set our minds on the Spirit of God. We have a hunger for the things of God, an insatiable appetite to see Christ made supreme and honored in all things. In essence, our appetites become godly. If we have a godly appetite, we know that we will continue to eat of the delicacies at God’s table, finding satisfaction in Him.

Our Lord’s words are taken from a greater set of verses that make up what is known as The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was outlining the requirements for entrance into the kingdom of God both now and upon the ultimate satisfaction that awaits the return of the King. A marriage follows a proposal, but there is a period of time between the proposal and the marriage itself. Likewise spiritually, we live in the time of the in-between; we have the ring and the promise, but we haven’t entered into the marriage yet. That happens at the consummation, when we enter into eternity by our death or when Christ comes again at His second coming.

When Jesus says that we are “blessed,” He is speaking about a state of being that is contingent upon our relationship with and in Him. When we “hunger” and “thirst,” we do so for Him. We eat of His truth, drink of His person, and gorge ourselves in the feast of faith. As we eat, we find fulfillment in Him, but our spiritual appetite, like our physical appetite, will not be entirely fulfilled until Glory. And then, we will experience the fullest essence of satisfaction. We’ll be continually and eternally satisfied. That is the end result of the longing we have now for the things of God.

May we eat of Him truly, finding our fulfillment and satisfaction in Him alone, waiting for the day of complete fulfillment when we delight ourselves in His presence forevermore. Amen.