“Catch on fire and people will come for miles to watch you burn.”   John Wesley

After a few days I learned most of the names of the young people at camp, and I had a pretty good feel for their nuances and quirks.  I knew who the loud ones were and who the quiet ones were.  Because I had watched the activities, I knew which ones were athletes and who disliked anything strenuous.  Without trying to judge I had evaluated which ones came to camp for spiritual reasons and which ones were trying to avoid being touched by God.  But as I stood there this evening, I observed something new.

It was the evening meal on the fourth day of camp, and the young people had just come in from a long hike on the mountain behind the campground.  They were all dirty, and their hair was out of place.  Many of the guys were dripping with sweat, while the young ladies had hints of moisture on their foreheads.

I stood far enough back to hear the conversations of many, watch their postures, and even hear some stomachs growl.  They opened the door to the cafeteria, and the line began to move quickly.  The guys pushed through the door first almost starting a stampede and coming close to trampling a few of the younger girls who had stationed themselves near the front.  Behind the initial push, the line began to take shape.  Everyone filled in wherever they fit, a few trying to manipulate their way closer to the doorway while others were satisfied to wait until the line had dwindled down.

Just a few seconds later reports of the menu were beginning to filter through the line; macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit and, of course, dessert and the salad bar.

As I eavesdropped on the young people around me, my attention rested on a conversation going on right behind me.  Three young men whom I had come to know throughout the course of the week were talking about dinner.

The oldest of the three said he was not hungry.  He told his friends that after that much activity he loses his appetite.  “So, are you going to pass on dinner?” one asked.  “No, because in an hour or two, my appetite will come back and I will be starving.”

This young man knew his body.  He knew that although he did not have a burning desire to eat right now, there would come a time in the not-to-distant future when he would be hungry if he didn’t eat.  He was going to eat because he should, not because he felt like it.  And in the end he was going to be glad he did.

Because I had to get ready for the service, I got my food and ate it as quickly as I could.  Then I headed for my room to shower, change and pray.

An hour and a half later, I walked into the chapel to find, to my delight, that everyone had showered since our hot excursion.  Everyone was looking and smelling good.  The sweaty clothes had been replaced with clean ones on the guys, and instead of moisture glistening on the foreheads of the young ladies, they had glittery makeup on.  I could smell cologne and perfume in different pockets of the room.  As I walked in, I stopped to comment to different people about how good they looked.  I asked them how they were doing to get a feel for their mental state before we began the service.

The young man who had not been hungry but had eaten anyway was sitting in a full third row.  He said he felt much better after taking a shower.  He looked better, too, but I wasn’t about to tell him that.  I went down the row asking how each one was doing.  One by one, I got a generic and uneventful “OK” or “good.”  However, there was one who answered differently.  A sixteen-year-old guy sitting toward the end of the row broke the string of positive answers.

“How are you doing?” I asked as I had to the five or six before him.

“I’m hungry,” came his response.  I told him I hadn’t seen him at dinner, and he told me why.  “When we got back from our hike, I wanted to get a warm shower.  I wasn’t hungry at the time, and I thought I would skip dinner.” 

Now I understood.  I offered my sympathy but knew there was noting I could do to help him fill the void in his stomach.  He should have eaten when he could.

No Waiting for Feelings

I realize there are times when we do not have an overwhelming feeling to spend time with God.  But if we are to know him, we must spend time with him even when we don’t feel like it.

We Christians should live with a depth of intentional desire and hunger that moves us towards Christ.  Desire is not abut a feeling; it is about a conscious decision to know Christ more intimately.  If we don’t spend time with him, our spiritual lives will get weak and wither away the same way our physical bodies would break down if we didn’t take care of them.

True hunger is a pursuit.  You can’t wait for the feelings to kick in; you must make it happen.  Here are a few ideas for how you can increase your hunger.

         Get Around Hungry People

One day when we were on the road with our ministry team, we pulled into a restaurant to grab a bite to eat.  It was dinnertime and we had been driving all day, but I did not feel hungry.  As we were seated and the server took our orders, I chose not to order. 

Fifteen minutes passed and I was still not hungry.  When the food was delivered to the table, things began to change.  I was sitting at a booth with some of my friends who travel with me, and I watched them begin to eat.  All three of them began to stuff food in their mouths.  Chris had a juicy-looking burger, Reid ordered nachos with extra jalapenos, and Dan was eating some chicken thing.

It wasn’t long until the sounds began to indicate that their meals met their expectations.  I found myself getting hungry.  Watching them eat and seeing the enjoyment on their faces convinced me that I needed something to eat.

Getting the waitress’ attention, I ordered a meal.  When it came out, I made some of the same noises, and I’m sure I had a smile on my face.

I wasn’t going to eat, but when I got around hungry people, I became hungry as well.  Spiritually, the same principle applies.  If you want to develop desire, get around people who have it.  If you want to be a pursuer of Christ, spend time near people who are.  As you observe them living their lives and enjoying their spiritual journeys, you will become more hungry.  As you see the peace and the joy they exhibit, you will be enticed to try some of what they are having.

Your friends will either dull your spiritual convictions or strengthen them.  Choose your companions wisely.

         Take Advantage of the Easy Times

Many Christians only go to God in crisis moments.  When they are being drawn into sin, they wonder why they don’t have more desire for holiness.  When they recognize apathy, they ask how they got there.

Don’t wait until times get tough to begin to hunger for God’s presence and intervention in your life.  If you are at a good place in your life spiritually, build from your strength.  Take advantage of the peace that you are experiencing right now.  Store up for a dry time.  Memorize Scripture so that you can take a stand during tough times.  Spend time building strength in the Lord now because there will be a time when you will need it.  Don’t wait until you are in a desperate place.  Take advantage of the easy time.

         Avoid Distractions

I am currently writing in a hotel room.  I am on the road preparing for a couple of speaking opportunities this week and writing in my spare moments.  Knowing that my week was going to be relatively full, I have been trying to knock out a couple of chapters before my hectic schedule kicks in.  I got into town about four hours ago and have been working about tow or those hours.

I got distracted.  I turned on the television and caught a basketball game as it was entering the second quarter.  Although I love basketball, I really had no interest in this game.  I would have rather been working on this book.  Before I knew it, though, the game was over and I hadn’t done any work.  I ignored my priorities because I got caught up in something less meaningful.

Many people do this spiritually.  Their priorities should be their spiritual development, yet they get distracted with other things.  Entertainment steals their time and their relationship with the Lord suffers because of it.

If you truly are going to build desire into your life, do your best to avoid distractions.  Use good time management and do not let your day slip away without spending time with God. 

Some of your distractions may not be sins but still keep you from feeding your spirit.  Instead of building strength, these distractions keep you weak and anemic.  Look at your life and make note of the things that prove to be unproductive time wasters.  Then begin to weed those out of your life.

         Ask For Hunger

There is something special for parents about meeting the requests of their kids.  Whether my daughter is asking for a drink at bedtime or for help on her homework, the parental side of me jumps to attention.  If the request is within reason and if it is something that I am able to provide, there is no question.  I will grant it.

God is the perfect Father and he loves his children even more than earthly parents, so we can count on him to do the same.  If you want to know God more, ask him.  If you want your desire for Christ to increase, request it.  In Matthew we read, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11).

I have begun to recognize that the majority of Christians pray about external things.  They pray for friends, family members, their future.  Many pray that they will be successful or get good grades.  They pray about the big game coming up or the car that they want, but most fail to pray the most intimate prayers.

We need to learn to pray about who we want to be, not just what we want to do.  Instead of “Lord, let me play well,” we need to spend some time asking God to help us grow spiritually, to deposit strength, character, and hunger into our hearts.

I think it’s safe to say young Christian people spend more time praying that God would help them witness better than asking God to make them more Christ-like.  Witnessing is, of course, very important, but we ought to spend just as much time praying about internal things.  If we surrender ourselves in prayer to the Lord in this way, the external things will begin to take care of themselves.

         Discipline Yourself

If you were sitting around your house and got hungry, wouldn’t you get up and find some food?  Many people go through times in their lives when they have no spiritual nourishment, yet they never think to eat.  They recognize their thirst but never drink from the living water.

It’s vitally important to spend time with Christ, but doing so contradicts everything our society tells us.  We spend our energies on the visible aspects of our lives because it seems more immediate.  We neglect the unseen parts of our lives even though they are more important and need more attention.

Spiritual strength is not a mystery.  It is a matter of discipline.  The more time you spend investing in your spiritual life, the stronger you will be.  Daily you need to discipline yourself so that God can speak to you, shape you, and mold you.

People who have a strategy for growing in Christ will be strong.  People who live by their feelings and leave it to chance will be weak.

Reality Check

·       Do you spend most of your time around people who challenge you with their hunger or with people who influence you in the ways of the world?  Which people in your life would challenge you to follow Christ?

·       What are some strategies that will motivate you to pray even in the good times?

·       What things tend to steal your time and distract you from being the committed and growing Christian you want to be?

·       How can you reprioritize to make sure you spend your time on what is important?

God, give me a passion for you.  I pray that you would become my overwhelming obsession.  Begin a hunger in me that will never go out – one that will keep me moving toward you in real and tangible ways.  God, I will not wait for the feelings to come before I will draw near to you, but I will discipline myself to spend time with you.  Give me some good friends that are hungry for you, so that we can encourage one another in our walk.  Help me to avoid the distractions that dominate my time so that I will not waste away the time that I should be using to be with you.  You are more precious to me than anything else in this world.  May I prove this to you by appropriately prioritizing my time.   I ask these things in Jesus’ name, because I know that they are your will for me.  Amen

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