Stay Hungry 维持吃不饱的状态
Author: Ps Andrew Xu
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
It is a joy to enjoy food. Eating is a necessity to sustain life as it provides us with the energy for life. Eating in culinary heaven like Singapore goes beyond just sustenance but is also an enjoyment of life. We eat when we are hungry, eat when we are not. To put it simply, we eat when we see food that fancies us. We eat more than 3 meals a day, tea breaks and suppers are commonplace! We are satisfied when we are full. We continue to feed when we feel hungry again. What a blessing it is to be able to eat!
Is our spiritual condition the same as our physical? Do we have a hunger for spiritual food or are we suffering from spiritual anorexia? Observing many Christians’ spiritual life, I realized that the key to spiritual growth is spiritual hunger! If you are hungry for spiritual food, you will continue to look for spiritual food to consume. It is a pity that many Christians are too easily full spiritually. This kind of spiritual fullness is the key factor stopping a Christian from continuing to grow spiritually in Christ.
The scripture above is from the beatitudes of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” What kind of a state is this “hunger and thirst for righteousness”? How shall we understand this statement? What is this righteousness that is talked about here? The ancient Jewish understanding of righteousness is that of “to acquit, vindicate, restore to a right relationship”. Therefore, someone who hungers and thirsts for righteousness is one who pursues a right and connected relationship with God.
If you are not hungry for spiritual food today, you might want to go back and reflect on your spiritual life and see if the object of your desire is right. Are you desiring knowledge or the God behind the knowledge? Our bible reading, bible study, devotion, and prayer are not simply for accountability’s sake, nor for just adding new knowledge to what we know but to establish a relationship with God. When we are hungry and thirsty to build a relationship with God, we are blessed indeed, because we will be satisfied. This satisfaction is a deep satisfaction of life. It fills the void that is innate in all human beings as we seek the truth. This kind of satisfaction causes spiritual hunger, spurring us to desire God even more. We must maintain this kind of spiritual hunger. Stay hungry!
文:许燕杰传道
“爱慕公义如饥如渴的人有福了，因为他们必得饱足.”
民以食为天。吃是人生存所需要的，因为食物共给我们生命所需的力量。吃对于处在新加坡这个美食天堂的人而言更是一种人生的大享受。我们饿的时候就吃，不饿的时候也可以吃，总而言之，只要看到想吃的东西我们就吃。一天吃不只三餐，还有茶点和夜宵。吃饱了，我们就满足了。等下次饿的时候在继续吃。能吃是福啊！
我们属灵的状态是否跟我们肉体的状态一样呢？我们是否也对属灵的食物有饥饿的感觉，还是我们已经得了属灵的厌食症？我观察了许多基督徒的属灵生命，发掘到灵命成长的关键就是要有一种属灵的饥饿感！只要你对属灵的食物有饥饿感，你就会不断的去寻找属灵的食物去吃。可惜的是，许多的基督徒很容易就被满足了。这种的饱足感成为了基督徒继续成长的拦阻。
以上的经文是耶稣登山宝训中的八福之一，是提到的第四个福气。“爱慕公义如饥如渴的人有福了，因为他们必得饱足。”爱慕公义如饥如渴是怎样的一个状态呢？这公义又是什么呢？古犹太对公义的认知是被审判无罪、被平反与回复正确的关系的意思。也就是说，一个爱慕公义如饥如渴的人是一个追求与神建立良好并亲密关系的人。
如果你今天对属灵的食物没有饥饿感的话，你可能要去反思一下你渴慕的对象是否正确。你是否是渴慕知识过于渴慕知识背后的上帝？我们灵修、读经、祷告并不是为了交代，也不是为了增添知识，而是为了与神建立关系。当我们对与神建立关系这件事如饥如渴的时候，我们就有福了，因为上帝要使我们得饱足。这饱足是生命的饱足，填补了我们身为人与生俱来寻找真理的空缺。这种的饱足将会让我们在灵里更加饥饿，更想与神建立更亲密的关系。我们要继续维持这样的一种饥饿状态。