A baby is born hungry. No one needs to teach a baby about hunger. And so it is that those who have been born again are also hungry. This is what we might call a holy hunger.
In many ways coming to Christ satisfies so many things. Outside of Christ everything is barren and dry. And so everything looks like food. This is essentially what idolatry is. It tries to turn the gifts of God into gods, which is to say, it is basically trying to turn various gifts into food that aren’t really food. Marriage is a great gift, but it is not your food. Children are great gifts, but they are not your food. Good health is a gift, but it is not your food. Respect is not your food. Success is not your food. But when you’re starving everything looks edible. And it can seem to give short term relief to the gnawing in your gut, but it’s not really feeding you. It’s not really giving you life.
But when you come to Christ, you find your hunger satisfied. And yet that doesn’t mean you’re done eating. When you come to Christ, you actually find that you have more of an appetite than ever before. And this is by design. God wants you to grow. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. But that is why this is a continual feast. We hunger for God’s wisdom and goodness and righteousness, and He gives it, and we are filled, and we are always hungry for more, not hungry in a desperate, dying way – hungry in that pleasantly surprised sense that you can have another piece of pie and you really won’t regret it.
So this table is set for the hungry. If you have been away for a long time and you have been feeding on other things, as a minister of the gospel, I invite you to eat real food here by coming to Christ by faith. And if you have been coming week after week, you too are most welcome to come again: it’s real food, and so of course you want more, of course you need more. You’ve fed on the Word preached, now feed on the Word broken and poured out. Turn to Christ, surrender to Him, thank Him, praise Him, read His word, feast on His word. You’ve been born again, and you were born again hungry.
So, Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Kobby Mendez on Unsplash
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