Hunger & Thurst After Righteousness
One day while I was visiting the big city the capital of Tamil Nadu called Madras, I stepped into an Indian restaurant for a plate of rice and some eggs. It was a Hindu rice shop with the usual row of charcoal fire, with a big pot of rice and varies kinds of curries, a long bench in front on the sidewalk and tables behind. I sat on one of the benches and gave my order. When I was served and while eating I noticed an Indian beggar boy in front of another eating place .Just across the street. He said hello, hello, plaintively, patting his empty stomach. “Give me some food, I am dying with hunger, have mercy! Please sir,” he was begging. But pestered with beggars all day long and troubled by this nuisance, the restaurant owner took a big wooden spoon and chased this fellow out. “Get out you little pest.” Abased, this little beggar boy came to the next eating-place and he made the same plea. “Sir, please give me something to eat.” And he continued repeating the same phrase again but the restaurant owner likewise had no mercy. “Get out you little boy,” and chased him away. Sadly he turned away and he came to the shop where I was eating and waiting to be served. He repeated the same cry again. “Give me some food. I am dying of hunger.” The man who was preparing the food answered the boy. “go away”, and he chased him.
Most of the oriental eating-places have a garbage can in-the entrance where people spit and put their beetle with their tobacco in their mouth when they come to eat. That’s where all the scraps and left overs and all the garbage ~s dumped. As the beggar boy was going away he just came across a small-unfinished meal inside the garbage can. Right away he moved slowly and swiftly. He took the food in the can and started to run and he was eating the meal. He was jumping with joy saying, “I got some food I got some food.”
transport or be ashamed of being seen by people reading a Bible. Or to help the poor who ask for help or to help an old man who ask for help on the road or what others are going to think about me if I stoop low to help someone. To be with the outcast of the society and help them because I am proud, I don’t want to do these things. If I am truly hungering and thirsting after righteousness my soul becomes different.
When I have this soul hunger I will behave exactly like Christ. Then I will pray to God without ceasing like this hungry boy was begging. When he found little food he was so happy. If we will plead with God for our soul. hunger surely we will be filled, not like these restaurant owner’s who have no mercy but like our Heavenly Father who’s love to us and who’s mercies are many.
Suddenly something struck on my mind. I knew the beggar boy was very hungry but I was really feeling what hunger could do. I have discovered that people who are really hungry are not ashamed. They can eat anything, anywhere. They don’t mind how many people see them or what others say to them or about them. And sometimes I wondered if I was really hungry for righteousness. I don’t mind carrying a Bible to church or to read the Bible on the public
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not chide neither will He keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like a Father pitieth his children so “the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame He remembreth that we are dust.” Psalm 103.
There is a story about what happened in the second world war. There was an Arabian and a British soldier. They both were serving the British Empire at that time. Israel didn’t exist and the Sinai front was governed by the British. The two soldiers were crossing the Sinai desert. Suddenly their jeep had some mechanical problem and stopped and they continued their journey by foot. They ran out of water and they became exhausted and they could not walk because they were so thirsty. They were thinking they will die before they could cross the border. They determined to walk. While they were walking they saw a dead British soldier and in his possession he had a container full of water and they slowly drank the water and they crossed the border. In their survival story they made a statement saying at that moment that if anybody would have given them the whole world they would have not desired it. In this story we can see what thirst can do to a human soul.
Jesus answered them and said:”truly, truly I say unto you, Ye seek Me not because ye saw the miracles but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for Hiro hath God the Father sealed. John 6:26,27. Many follow Christ for this temporal blessing, the same as the Jewish people. There is no difference today. There are many billions of Christians with worldly ambitions.
Then said Jesus unto them, truly, truly I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. The giver of the manna was standing among them. It was Christ Himself who had led the Hebrews through the wilderness, and had daily fed them with the bread from heaven. That food was a type of the real bread from heaven. The life-giving Spirit, flowing from the infinite fullness of God is the true manna. Jesus said, The Bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven and giveth life unto the world. I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. John 3:3.
The figure which Christ used was a familiar one to the Jews. Moses, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit had said, “Man doeth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. And Jeremiah says “Thy words were found and 1 did eat them and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. “And Jesus said unto them, 1 am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. In: 6:35 This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him may have everlasting life and 1 will raise him at the last day.
No longer need men mourn in hopeless grief over their dead. The Saviour said “1 am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 1 am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever. “To this figure Christ now adds another. Only through dying could He impart life to men, and in the words
that follow He points to His death as the means of salvation. He says, The bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. “Truly, truly I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me and I in him. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Saviour; He becomes closer than any earthly friend or our own parents believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature.
What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. Like Moses said, I set the Lord ever before me. If we don’t have a vital connection with Him it is no use. If we don’t Love Him like He loved us. Many have excellent theoretical knowledge but this will do no good. We must feed upon Him; receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, his grace, must be assimilated. “As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Fat!1er so he that eateth Me even he shall live by Me. As the Son of God lived by faith in the Father, so are we to live by faith in Christ. So fully was Jesus surrendered to the will of His Father that the Father alone appeared in His life. Although tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world untainted by the evil that surrounded Him. Thus we also are to overcome as Christ overcame.
The unbelieving Jews refused to: see anything except the most literal meaning in the Saviour’s words. By the ritual law they were forbidden to taste blood, and they now construed Christ’s language into; sacrilegious speech and disputed over it among themselves. Many even of the disciples said this is hard saying who can hear it. And many disciple who were very close to Him left Him and went away. When He really invited them not to be a casual friend, but to be a part with Him.
The same rejection came upon His disciples when He invited them in 1888. Many Adventists rejected Him. The life of Christ that gives life to the world is His word. Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power, when he had by Himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High.
Today because of technology we have voice activated computers. We have voice activated cars. If you speak to the car it will open the door, it will start the engine. But if a stranger gets near the car and if he says to open the door or even if he will touch the door the alarm goes on. The car only recognizes its owner. It is the same when Jesus created the world. He spoke and everything obeyed his word. All of them heard His voice and came into existence;
One time when there was a storm in the sea, in fear His disciples woke Him. He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. The men marveled saying, what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey Him. The winds and the sea should obey His voice because He is their creator. Nothing can exist in this universe without His voice because He is our creator. Even Satan knows this. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons. By His word he stilled the sea and raised the dead and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament.
The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn the word must be their source of power. Like their Master they were to live “by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.” As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely’ through the medium of another’s mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word. We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind ort the task of ascertaining the thoughts which God has put in that verse for us. We should dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own, and we know “what saith the Lord.”
By looking constantly to Jesus with the eyes of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering and thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is Spirit and Life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live “by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.” This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven.
By the word of truth, the chaff is separated from the wheat. Many are too vain and self-righteous to receive reproof, too world loving many are turning away from Jesus. Souls are tested today as in the time of Christ. When truth is brought home to the heart, they see the need of an entire change in themselves; but they are not willing to take up the self-denying work. Therefore they are angry when their sins are discovered. Praise and flattery would be pleasing to their ears; but the truth is unwelcome; they cannot hear it. When the searching of God’s Spirit reveals their sin, and bids them leave it, they turn their backs upon the truth, and walk no more with Jesus. When a Christian turns away from Christ a different spirit takes control of people. They see nothing attractive in Him whom they had once found so interesting. They seek His enemies for they are harmony with the spirit of the world. While we cannot now comprehend the works and ways of God, we can discern his great love, which underlies all His dealings with men.
He who lives near to Jesus will understand much of the mystery of godliness. He will recognize the mercy that administers reproof, which tests the character, and brings to light the purpose of the heart. If we are truly hungry we will eat and if we are thirsty we will drink. This truth applies to our spiritual existence too.
One day in my friends Christian mission where sometime I visit for a few months to help the poor children of my country one day I noticed a girl called Amy. Now Amy was a very clever girl and lively too. She became very friendly with me during my stay. While I was there I noticed one day she didn’t come for the morning service neither for the breakfast so I went to the dormitory to see what the after was with my little Amy, I found her wrapped a blanket lying on a mat, sick with fever. “Are you all hot, Amy?” I asked. “yes, sir,” came the weak reply. “And does your head ache? Did you have any breakfast this morning?” “No, I don’t want any.” “No Amy,” I said. “I know for little girls who have fever, will go to the kitchen and get you a piece of toast and little bit warm milk. Won’t that be nice?” “I don’t want any,” She whispered. But I thought the best for her to have a simple meal will help her. I returned to the kitchen and prepared the toast and warm milk and visited her again. “Now here we are, Amy, come on up and taste this nice toast.” She sat up because she was a very obedient little girl. She took a spoonful. “There now,” I encouraged, “isn’t hat nice?” “No I don’t like it.” “But I said you must -take a little more and soon you will be better.” She took another spoonful and another with a little quaking and another. Then she suddenly clapped her hand then reached for an empty can. Then I will let you guess the rest. She was not hungry, she was sick. I called the doctor and the nurse of the mission school and the doctor wrote the medicine and the nurse took care of the little girl. Then I left the mission for a week away because I had to addend a seminar in another city.
On my return when the train reached the mission I noticed a group of little girls playing around. I greeted them and asked them if they were happy and they all shook their heads. “How is my little Amy?” I posed a question. “Oh” Said one, “she is healthy again. And now she is hungry all the time. She can hardly wait from one meal to another.” Just then the dinner bell rang. Looking up I saw Amy was dancing down the corridor and entering the dinning room. As soon as she got better she was hungry again. And I questioned, if we were quite well spiritually we would be naturally hungry and thirsty for spiritual food or for the bread of Life. If we are not hungry anymore for the bread which proceeds from the FATHER could it be because we are sick spiritually. If this spiritual sickness isn’t cured we will worsen and die.
How do we cure this sickness? When you are sick the doctor prescribes medication. This is the same as the spiritual doctor who is CHRIST who will prescribe medication for you. First we should know the danger of the existence of Satan and his constant warfare with the human soul, how he tries his level best to destroy us. If you read the Bible “For all nations have drunk of the wine of wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Nobody is safe because the whole world is drunk and even all the rulers of this earth are against our CREATOR. That’s why the whole world is keeping the Sunday to go to church and they celebrate these pagan festivals like Christmas and Easter. Nobody is safe from this false doctrine, but still the world believes that it is God who has sanctioned it. We should read the Bible through the guidance of the HOLY SPRIT and try to understand it and apply to our life.
Secondly, work bestows another blessing. It was God’s purpose to have useful occupation as one of the surest safeguards against evil. Idleness is one of the greatest curses, for crime and poverty follow in its way. Those who are always busy who go cheerfully about their daily task are useful members of society. In the faithful discharge of the various duties that lie in their pathway, they made their life a blessing to themselves and to others. Diligent labor keeps them from many of the snares of him who finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” Messages to Young People 213, 214.
And then we should pray without ceasing. These are the medications our Doctor prescribes for sick souls because many minds are toxic by Satan’s food. If you look at television, movies, theater, dancing, over-eating, drinking, smoking, etc. all these things do corrupt our mind from not willing to grow neither become hungry towards the bread of Life. I hope you understand your spiritual need and change. Amen.