How hungry are you?
We live in a world where hunger drives us. A late-night commercial for a bacon cheeseburger can make us hungry even after we've stuffed ourselves at dinner. Those Lindt chocolate commercials during the holiday season can send us straight to the pantry. We adjust our entire schedules around meals, snacks, and satisfying our physical cravings. Some of us even get "hangry"—so hungry that it changes our mood and temperament.
But when was the last time you were truly hungry for God? Not just casually interested, but desperately hungry—so hungry that you stopped everything just to spend time with Him?
The uncomfortable truth is that many of us would rather snack on God's blessings than dine with Him at His table. We've become satisfied with spiritual drive-throughs instead of sitting down for a real meal. We grab our quick fix on Sunday morning—our shot of "holy espresso"—and think that's enough to sustain us through the week.
But here's what happens: we're actually starving to death spiritually while thinking we're full.
Medical experts tell us that when someone loses their appetite for food, it's a sign of poor health. The same principle applies spiritually. If you have no appetite for God, no hunger for His presence, it's an indication that something else is going on in your life that's crowding Him out.
God feeds hungry people. Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." The promise is clear: if you're hungry, you will be filled. But you have to actually be hungry.
The story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 gives us a powerful picture of what true spiritual hunger looks like. Here was a man who had everything money could buy. As a chief tax collector, he was wealthy beyond measure. But he was also despised, lonely, and empty.
Tax collectors in first-century Israel weren't just unpopular—they were considered traitors. They collected taxes for the occupying Roman government and often got rich by overcharging their own people. For a Jew to become a tax collector meant being disowned by family, banned from the synagogue, and considered almost as evil as a murderer.
Zacchaeus had all the money in the world, but he was missing something that money couldn't buy. He was hungry for something real, something that would truly satisfy.
When he heard that Jesus was coming to town, Zacchaeus did something absolutely crazy. First, he ran—something a prestigious man in that culture would never do. Men of status walked with dignity; they didn't run through crowds like children. But Zacchaeus didn't care what people thought.
Then he did something even more outrageous: he climbed a tree. A grown man, a wealthy official, scrambling up a sycamore tree like a kid trying to see a parade. Can you imagine the looks he got? The whispers? The mockery?
But Zacchaeus was so hungry to see Jesus that he was willing to sacrifice his dignity, his reputation, and his pride. He didn't let the crowd stop him. He didn't let his short stature stop him. He didn't let "what people might think" stop him.
Here's where the story gets beautiful.
As Jesus walked by that tree, He looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." Jesus called him by name. Out of all those people in that massive crowd, Jesus saw Zacchaeus—not just physically saw him, but truly saw him. He saw his hunger, his desperation, his need. And Jesus didn't just acknowledge him; He invited Himself to Zacchaeus's house. He separated him from the crowd so He could meet his deepest need.
The crowd grumbled. They couldn't believe Jesus would go to the house of "a sinner." But they missed the point entirely. They were so focused on seeing Jesus perform miracles that they forgot His mission: to seek and save the lost.
The crowd wanted entertainment. Zacchaeus wanted transformation.
When Jesus got to Zacchaeus‘ house, something changed. In the presence of the Lord, something always changes. Zacchaeus stood and said, "Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold."
Notice what he called Jesus: Lord. Not teacher, not rabbi, not sir—but Lord.
But Jesus made it clear: it wasn't Zacchaeus's charitable deeds or good behavior that saved him. It was Jesus Himself who brought salvation to that house. As Titus 3:4-5 reminds us, "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy."
Zacchaeus was saved because he was hungry enough to do whatever it took to get to Jesus. And when he got there, Jesus filled him completely.
So here's the question we all need to ask ourselves: How hungry are we?
Are we desperate enough for God that we're willing to do whatever it takes to get to Him? Are we willing to look foolish? To go against the crowd? To sacrifice our comfort and convenience?
Or are we content to stay in the vicinity of God, close enough to feel religious but not close enough to be transformed?
The problem is that most of us aren't really hungry because we're full of the wrong stuff. We've settled for spiritual snacks and fast food—quick devotionals, feel-good messages, Christian music in the car. These things aren't bad, but if they become substitutes for genuine, deep communion with God, we lose our appetite for the real thing.
God doesn't want you to be content with a spiritual drive-through. He wants you to come and dine with Him at His table. And here's the amazing part: you don't have to go anywhere. Like He did with Zacchaeus, God will come to you and dine with you.
The amount of your emptiness determines the amount of your filling. To make room for the new things God wants to do in you, you've got to get rid of the old stuff. It's hard for God to bring something new when your life is still crowded with things that need to go.
So stop eating the junk. Be filled with the presence of Jesus Christ. Go on, run ahead of the crowd. Climb whatever tree you need to climb. Do whatever it takes to get to Jesus. Because He's the One who will truly fulfill you.
He already sees you. He already knows your name. And He's ready to fill you—if you're hungry enough to come.
But when was the last time you were truly hungry for God? Not just casually interested, but desperately hungry—so hungry that you stopped everything just to spend time with Him?
The uncomfortable truth is that many of us would rather snack on God's blessings than dine with Him at His table. We've become satisfied with spiritual drive-throughs instead of sitting down for a real meal. We grab our quick fix on Sunday morning—our shot of "holy espresso"—and think that's enough to sustain us through the week.
But here's what happens: we're actually starving to death spiritually while thinking we're full.
Medical experts tell us that when someone loses their appetite for food, it's a sign of poor health. The same principle applies spiritually. If you have no appetite for God, no hunger for His presence, it's an indication that something else is going on in your life that's crowding Him out.
God feeds hungry people. Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." The promise is clear: if you're hungry, you will be filled. But you have to actually be hungry.
The story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 gives us a powerful picture of what true spiritual hunger looks like. Here was a man who had everything money could buy. As a chief tax collector, he was wealthy beyond measure. But he was also despised, lonely, and empty.
Tax collectors in first-century Israel weren't just unpopular—they were considered traitors. They collected taxes for the occupying Roman government and often got rich by overcharging their own people. For a Jew to become a tax collector meant being disowned by family, banned from the synagogue, and considered almost as evil as a murderer.
Zacchaeus had all the money in the world, but he was missing something that money couldn't buy. He was hungry for something real, something that would truly satisfy.
When he heard that Jesus was coming to town, Zacchaeus did something absolutely crazy. First, he ran—something a prestigious man in that culture would never do. Men of status walked with dignity; they didn't run through crowds like children. But Zacchaeus didn't care what people thought.
Then he did something even more outrageous: he climbed a tree. A grown man, a wealthy official, scrambling up a sycamore tree like a kid trying to see a parade. Can you imagine the looks he got? The whispers? The mockery?
But Zacchaeus was so hungry to see Jesus that he was willing to sacrifice his dignity, his reputation, and his pride. He didn't let the crowd stop him. He didn't let his short stature stop him. He didn't let "what people might think" stop him.
Here's where the story gets beautiful.
As Jesus walked by that tree, He looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." Jesus called him by name. Out of all those people in that massive crowd, Jesus saw Zacchaeus—not just physically saw him, but truly saw him. He saw his hunger, his desperation, his need. And Jesus didn't just acknowledge him; He invited Himself to Zacchaeus's house. He separated him from the crowd so He could meet his deepest need.
The crowd grumbled. They couldn't believe Jesus would go to the house of "a sinner." But they missed the point entirely. They were so focused on seeing Jesus perform miracles that they forgot His mission: to seek and save the lost.
The crowd wanted entertainment. Zacchaeus wanted transformation.
When Jesus got to Zacchaeus‘ house, something changed. In the presence of the Lord, something always changes. Zacchaeus stood and said, "Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold."
Notice what he called Jesus: Lord. Not teacher, not rabbi, not sir—but Lord.
But Jesus made it clear: it wasn't Zacchaeus's charitable deeds or good behavior that saved him. It was Jesus Himself who brought salvation to that house. As Titus 3:4-5 reminds us, "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy."
Zacchaeus was saved because he was hungry enough to do whatever it took to get to Jesus. And when he got there, Jesus filled him completely.
So here's the question we all need to ask ourselves: How hungry are we?
Are we desperate enough for God that we're willing to do whatever it takes to get to Him? Are we willing to look foolish? To go against the crowd? To sacrifice our comfort and convenience?
Or are we content to stay in the vicinity of God, close enough to feel religious but not close enough to be transformed?
The problem is that most of us aren't really hungry because we're full of the wrong stuff. We've settled for spiritual snacks and fast food—quick devotionals, feel-good messages, Christian music in the car. These things aren't bad, but if they become substitutes for genuine, deep communion with God, we lose our appetite for the real thing.
God doesn't want you to be content with a spiritual drive-through. He wants you to come and dine with Him at His table. And here's the amazing part: you don't have to go anywhere. Like He did with Zacchaeus, God will come to you and dine with you.
The amount of your emptiness determines the amount of your filling. To make room for the new things God wants to do in you, you've got to get rid of the old stuff. It's hard for God to bring something new when your life is still crowded with things that need to go.
So stop eating the junk. Be filled with the presence of Jesus Christ. Go on, run ahead of the crowd. Climb whatever tree you need to climb. Do whatever it takes to get to Jesus. Because He's the One who will truly fulfill you.
He already sees you. He already knows your name. And He's ready to fill you—if you're hungry enough to come.
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