Driving into the office today I had a hypothetical question pop into my mind. I was pondering what my answer would be if God approached me and asked me the question, “Jeff, if I could only impart one thing to you and the people you influence what would you want that one thing to be?” Before I even had time to process the question, the word ‘Hunger’ popped into my mind. Sometimes the first answer that enters your mind is the best answer, so I let my thoughts run down that road to see how it might play out. Here’s how it was unpacked for me.
- That I would personally hunger after the presence of God in my life more than any other thing – more deeply than ever before in my history with Jesus Christ.
- That my wife and children would hunger deeply for Him, in ways that have nothing to do with my role as their husband and father.
- That the people I serve and lead would share that same hunger for Him.
- That Christian men would be hunger to sacrificially lead and serve their wives and children more than enjoying their hobbies.
- That women would hunger to be spiritually beautified with 10X the desire that they have to be physically beautified.
- That we all might hunger for deeper experience and encounter with God more than we want entertainment.
- That we would be hungry to find ways to give our all into the Kingdom more than living to get all that is offered from the world.
- That we would so hunger for spiritual breakthrough that we would commit more often to fast from physical food.
- That we would hunger to set our children’s and grandchildren’s generation up for future revival more than we would hunger for us to get the most for ourselves out of the present moment.
- That we would hunger for enlightenment and understanding from the Scriptures with a greater focus than we place upon college football, NFL playoffs, heavyweight boxing matches, March Madness, the PGA tour, NASCAR or Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season.
- That we might raise children who hunger for their bibles more than they do their gaming consoles, their after school teams and clubs or their social media accounts.
- That we would hunger to carry the cross assigned to us by Christ more than we would to chase the trophies offered to us by the world.
- That we would feel the hunger pains of justice left undone in our country – specifically, racial injustice.
- That we would be hungry to follow Christ out of the realm of viewing ourselves as helpless victims.
- That we would hunger to weep over the needs of the forsaken and forgotten more than we would to laugh with the elite and privileged.
- That we would hunger for a life of substance which is lived out in sacrifice more than we would ever desire a superficial life lived out in prosperity.
- That we would hunger for the power of God which turns us inside out for the Gospel mission rather than live for improving ourselves through additional 2-hour workouts in the gym, extra hours at the office, higher degrees in our educational pursuits, or more impressive promotions in the esteem of man.
So, yes, I am hungry and I believe we will all eventually feast on those things which we desire most. Our lives are being defined by our highest hungers. We pass our hungers down to our children and grandchildren. You and I will always chase what we most long for so I suppose that, if God would only grant one thing for me, I would ask for Him to shape and protect my hungers in this life. We want to hunger most of all for Him and then, second to that, we want to hunger for whatever He is offering to serve to us.
Wow, that’s an amazing change in perception and so profound to have that one thing that God would grant, versus all the things we physically hunger and desire for. That was truly inspirational and makes me want to rethink some of my priorities.