Hunger Isn’t a Game

In Proverbs 15:14, we read something interesting:

The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.

What does this verse mean for us as Seventh-Day Adventist Christian teens, and how does it apply to our 21st century lives? Well, I really like how this modern translation puts it:

Lovers of God hunger after truth, but those without understanding feast on foolishness and don’t even realize it. {Proverbs 15:14 TPT}

To be honest, there’s A LOT we can extract from this modern translation of Proverbs 15:14, as well as A LOT of applications. However, there’s one particular application I’d like to extract and highlight in this devotional post today.

That one particular application is simply a question:

What are you hungering after? What is your heart seeking? What is your soul craving for? What do you enjoy feasting on?

But then again, what is truth? What is foolishness?

Let’s first look into the second question: What is foolishness?

The word for “foolishness” in the original Hebrew is the word ‘ivveleth (אִוֶּלֶת). And the interesting thing is according to Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, one of the definitions for ‘ivveleth (אִוֶּלֶת) is “impiety.” What is impiety? According to one dictionary, it defines impiety as “ungodliness, lack of reverence for God or religious matters; lack of respect.”

How does all this apply to us as Seventh-Day Adventist Christian teens?

Again, I wanna ask you, dear reader, what are you hungering for? What is your heart craving and seeking after? The foolish, ungodly things of this world or truth?

But then again, what is truth? We’ve already covered the question on what is foolishness?
Foolishness is impiety, ungodliness, disrespect toward God and His standards. Now, let’s look into the question, what is truth?

In John 14:6, we learn that truth isn’t a what–rather it’s a WHO:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

So, friend, let’s now take a step back and consider what I’ve been asking since the beginning of this blog post.

Dear reader, what is your heart hungering after? What is your soul seeking for? What is your mind craving? What do you enjoy feasting on? Is it Jesus Christ, the Embodiment of all pure truth? Or, is it the ungodly foolishness in this world? Is your heart hungering after the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world? Or is your heart hungering after your cell phone? Is your soul seeking for the Son of God? Or is your soul seeking for the fashions and trends of this world? Is your mind craving for more of Emmanuel? Or is your mind craving for more worldly entertainment, secular music, and earthly novels? Do you enjoy feasting on the Word of God? Or do you enjoy feasting on satisfying your appetite or fulfilling your carnal desires?

A Hunger-Driven Life…

I’d like to point out another verse in Proverbs that is also good for us to consider. It’s in Proverbs 16:26, and this is what it says:

The person who labors, labors for himself,
For his hungry mouth drives him on.

How does this verse apply to us as Seventh-Day Adventist Christian teens? And how does it connect to what we’ve been looking at in Proverbs 15:14?

Whether we know it or not, there’s something inside each of us that’s driving us to find happiness. There’s something inside your heart and my heart that is longing for identity, purpose, and satisfaction. Deep inside every person in this whole world is a hunger that drives us to labor for peace, joy, love–something, anything, to satisfy the hunger within each of us. What do I mean by that?

I remember reading a book one time called At Jesus’ Feet by Doug Batchelor. In the book, Pastor Doug mentions that he believes God had created all of us to be addicts. However, God designed us as human beings to be addicted to Him. To find all our peace, happiness, purpose, identity, love, satisfaction, and joy in God alone! Unfortunately, we allow our lives to be driven by a hunger after relationships, media, entertainment, music, novels, fashion trends, and food rather than CHRIST! And we try to satisfy that hunger for those things over and over again to the point where we become addicted to those things instead of God.

Hunger Is Not A Game!

As Seventh-Day Adventist Christian young people, we literally fool ourselves into thinking we can play games with our hunger. What do I mean by that?

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 that “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Yet, we think we can serve both God and our addiction. Yet, we have this subconscious belief that we can play around with whatever we’re addicted to during the week, and then come to church on Sabbath and play like a good, faithful Adventist Christian.

But hunger isn’t something to play with, friends! Hunger is not a game! Either you’re a Christian or not! Either your life is driven by a hunger after God and His will or the ungodly foolishness the world offers!

Seriously, dear reader, what are you hungry for?

Maybe, dear reader, you sense the Holy Spirit convicting you that you’ve been hungering and seeking more after the world rather than Christ, and you want to change your cravings; you want to change your hunger. If it’s your desire, dear reader, to hunger more for Jesus and to hunger less for the world, I encourage you to pray:

I’d like to conclude this post with two things. One is a verse you may claim and meditate on along with the above prayer:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

And the second thing I’d like to conclude this post with is one of my favorite hymns sung by one of my favorite artists. As you listen to it below, I hope and pray you’ll be inspired to hunger for Jesus so much you can truly say–“you can have all this world, but give me Jesus.”

May each of us have such a deep hunger and great thirst for Christ, His righteousness, His happiness, His peace, His love, His identity, and His purpose that we will no longer feel addicted to the ungodly foolishness of this whole world; but instead, simply cry out: “Just give me Jesus! He is enough! Not this foolish world, just Jesus!”

Amen! Maranatha!