Maintaining a Hunger for Spiritual Growth and Development
A hunger for spiritual growth is often described in biblical texts using metaphors of physical hunger and thirst, indicating a deep-seated desire for righteousness and divine sustenance [1, 5]. Jesus states, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled" [1]. This spiritual longing is not merely a fleeting wish but an intense craving, similar to the physical need for food and water [8].
The concept of spiritual hunger is contrasted with a state of being satisfied with worldly provisions. The Israelites in the wilderness, for instance, did not turn from their cravings for physical food, even when God provided for them [2]. In contrast, Paul speaks of learning "the secret both to be filled and to be hungry," suggesting a spiritual discipline that embraces both abundance and need [3]. This implies that spiritual growth involves a continuous desire for more of God, rather than a static state of contentment [3].
The satisfaction of this spiritual hunger is promised by God. John Gill, in his commentary on Psalms 107:8, notes that God "satisfieth the longing soul" and "filleth the hungry soul with goodness," referring to Christ, His grace, and the "good things of the Gospel" [7]. Similarly, Gill interprets Deuteronomy 8:3, where God allowed the Israelites to hunger before feeding them manna, as a parallel to how God humbles people and creates desires for spiritual food, which He then provides through Christ [9].
Maintaining this hunger involves actively engaging with divine revelation. Adam Clarke suggests that one should "take my word as thou wouldst take thy proper food; receive it into thy heart; ponder it there, that it may be the means of strengthening and preserving thy soul" [6]. This active reception and digestion of God's word is likened to physical nourishment, essential for spiritual strength and preservation [6]. The Jamieson, Fausset & Brown commentary on 1 Timothy 4:15 emphasizes the importance of careful meditation on spiritual truths, comparing it to digestion that assimilates food into the body [10]. This continuous engagement and absorption in spiritual matters are seen as crucial for proficiency in one's spiritual journey [10].
The "joy of the Lord" is also presented as a source of strength that invigorates both body and mind, enabling individuals to fulfill God's will [4]. This joy is not associated with gluttonous or drunken festivals but with a religious feast that strengthens and empowers [4]. The spiritual "water" that Christ gives is described as satisfying a deeper need than earthly provisions, reaching "the very depths of our being" and preventing a return to spiritual thirst [11].
Sources
- Matthew “Matthew 5:6 (LITV) — Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled.”
- Psalms “They didn’t turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths, -- Psalms 78:30”
- Philippians “I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need. -- Philippians 4:12”
- Nehemiah (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 8:10: Eat the fat, and drink the sweet - Eat and drink the best that you have; and while ye are feeding yourselves in the fear of the Lord, remember those who cannot feast; and send portions to them, that the joy and the thanksgiving may be general. Let the poor have reason to rejoice as well as you. For the joy of the Lord is your strength - This is no gluttonous and drunken festival that enervates the body, and enfeebles the mind: from your religious feast your bodies will acquire strength and your minds power and fervor, so that you shall be able to Do His will, and ”
- Luke (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Luke 6:20: Blessed are ye that hunger now,.... Not only suffer hunger and thirst in a literal sense, in this present life, but who have hunger and thirst in a spiritual sense, after righteousness and eternal life, as in Mat 5:6 where it is also said as here: for ye shall be filled: with righteousness and life; See Gill on Mat 5:6. blessed are ye that weep now; under afflictions and pressures of life, and mourn for sin, their own, and others: for ye shall laugh; be filled with spiritual joy and pleasure, and be comforted with the consolations of the Spirit; See Gill on Mat 5:”
- Ezekiel (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 2:8: Open thy mouth and eat that I give thee - Take my word as thou wouldst take thy proper food; receive it into thy heart; ponder it there, that it may be the means of strengthening and preserving thy soul, as proper nourishment will strengthen the body, and preserve from death. And the people to whom such messages of God may come should so hear it read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it, that it may become efficient nourishment to their souls.”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 107:8: For he satisfieth the longing soul,.... The soul that is hungry and thirsty, and longs for food and drink, when nature in such circumstances craves. And so such who long for Christ and his grace, for an interest in him, and fellowship with him, the Lord satisfies with these things, as with marrow and fatness. And filleth the hungry soul with goodness; with the goodness and fatness of his house; with good things; with the good things laid up in Christ and in the covenant; with the good things of the Gospel; with the grace and goodness of God in Christ; see Psa 65:4.”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 107:4: Hungry and thirsty,.... As travellers in deserts sometimes are; their provisions being spent they bring with them, and none to be had on the road; there being no inns to stop at, nor any sort of food to eat, nor springs of water to drink of. In such a condition are souls, when, like the prodigal, they come to themselves, and are thoroughly convinced of their state and condition by nature; they find themselves starving and famishing, and no provision to be had from themselves or the creature: they hunger after Christ, the bread of life, and thirst after his grace, the”
- Deuteronomy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Deuteronomy 8:3: And he humbled thee,.... Or afflicted thee with want of bread: and suffered thee to hunger; that there might be an opportunity of showing his mercy, and exerting his power: and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; a sort of food they had never seen before, and when they saw it, knew not what it was, but asked, what is it? Exo 16:15. Thus the Lord humbles his people by his Spirit and grace, and brings them to see themselves to be in want, and creates in them desires after spiritual food, and feeds them with Christ the hidde”
- 1 Timothy (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Timothy 4:15: Meditate--Greek, "Meditate CAREFULLY upon" (Psa 1:2; Psa 119:15; compare "Isaac," Gen 24:63). these things-- (Ti1 4:12-14). As food would not nourish without digestion, which assimilates the food to the substance of the body, so spiritual food, in order to benefit us, needs to be appropriated by prayerful meditation. give thyself wholly to--literally, "BE in these things"; let them engross thee wholly; be wholly absorbed in them. Entire self-dedication, as in other pursuits, so especially in religion, is the secret of proficiency. There are chan”
- John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 4:13: thirst again . . . never thirst, &c.--The contrast here is fundamental and all comprehensive. "This water" plainly means "this natural water and all satisfactions of a like earthly and perishable nature." Coming to us from without, and reaching only the superficial parts of our nature, they are soon spent, and need to be anew supplied as much as if we had never experienced them before, while the deeper wants of our being are not reached by them at all; whereas the "water" that Christ gives--spiritual life--is struck out of the very depths of our being, m”