Full Of It
There’s nothing like a huge meal to annihilate a huge appetite. That was pretty much my condition from the Thanksgiving meal through the next couple of days thereafter. Continual grazing of leftovers and desserts never allowed the feeling of hunger to actually return. That never ending fullness, especially with such wonderful food was a most enjoyable experience, although I’m sure it wouldn’t be very healthy over an extended period of time.
Hunger, as it applies to food and many other areas of life such as fellowship, knowledge, leisure time, and productivity can be a strong motivation towards what is necessary in life. However, it can also open up areas of vulnerability, where something of great value is willingly offered in exchange for the filling of that hunger. This was seen in the case of Esau who came home from a hunting trip so hungry that he was willing to give up the most valuable thing in his life, his birthright. The 34th verse of Genesis 25 says that he actually despised his most valuable possession because of hunger, something that a simple bowl of porridge would fill. Jesus, on the other hand, was surely way more hungry than Esau could have been, and yet He was so full of the Holy Spirit that the temptations to fill His natural hunger were ineffective. He was already full with a huge meal that annihilated any other appetite He might develop. He could never be persuaded to part with His most valuable possession for the enticements of a few gratified appetites. There was a fullness He had from His relationship with His Father that disabled all other hungers.
There is no need for us today to part with any treasure that’s been given to us by our Father God. Rather than letting our enemy take advantage of any part of our life that has a voice of hunger, there is an opportunity every day for the feasting at the table provided for us in God’s presence to eliminate all other hungers and thirsts. In worship and in the reception of His Word into our hearts there is a great filling up that will refuse any giving in to the temptations our enemy might present. Whenever we find ourselves in a condition that, by earthly reasoning would justify compromise, there is a way of escape in God that will be a most pleasurable experience of continuous grazing and uninterrupted fullness. Where He has filled, there is no room for another.
