Seriously now, there is a hunger within us, to satisfy our craving.  Matthew chapters 5-7  the longest recorded sermon,  Jesus goes into great detail to describe the qualities He is looking for in His  followers.  One of which is found in chapter 5 verse 6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled’.  (emphasis mine)

I love this verse,  (here comes the geeky good stuff.)   Blessed (makarios) well  off,  many would say ‘happy’ is the man.  Yet it is more.  Picture if you will, a child  trying to express how much they love you,  they throw back their head in glee and with great effort stretch out their arms as far as they will go.  THAT is ‘blessed.’   He goes on to say, AND thirsts  (this  intrigued me)  and can be translated ‘even’.  “Blessed are those who hunger even thirst…” Leading  us  from  want to great  NEED!  Face it folks this is survival!   In short, happy (ier) is the man who craves God and God stuff, for they will be filled!

David experienced this, Psalm 63:1 he was  literally in a desert place, the desert of Judah, yet also of the spirit, and  soul  “O  God, you are my God, I earnestly search for You.  My soul thirsts  for You, my whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” Survival

‘My soul thirsts for You’  The word ‘soul’ in the Hebrew  is (nepesh) which means mind, heart, will, spirit,  even breath.  It comes from the root word (naphash) to breathe.  May I suggest, David is seeking the breath of God to satisfy his longing – his very existence.  Now track with me for a moment.  Genesis 2:7  ‘and the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a  living soul’ (nepesh).  Our bodies were made of the dust – earth – biological.  The soul was not made of the earth. So…. earthly  things can not quench the hunger of the soul, it is only the breath of God that can!  This is BIG.   What a God design. He made it so we would HUNGER for His very breath. Him. How often do we seek things, people, position  even ‘events’ to satisfy our deep longing, cravings.  Without God’s breath and presence in our lives, we are an empty vessel.    God initiated this for mankind,  now we by invitation in turn seek that breath.  II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is God-breathed …” We seek His presence, we study His word.

Blessed with outstretched arms is the man who seeks  diligently God’s presence, takes that deep longing within and places God there first.   Psalm 107:9  ‘He satisfies the longing soul and  fills the hungry soul with goodness.’  When we stand in front of the frig of life and we once again seek to appease the craving.  Reach for Him, His word, His stuff.  Craving satisfied.

 Let’s pray… Father, as we pause and  acknowledge our need for You, we crave, hunger and invite Your presence, Your breath, even the Holy Spirits wind to blow on us.  Come and fill our  longing hearts, refresh us, but keep us in that hungering state, that we will  again and again search for You first, and not attempt to satisfy with other things.  We love You and honor You.  In Your most holy Name, Jesus… Amen.

We sing the song, “This is the air I breathe, This is the air I breathe, Your Holy Presences living in me…. and I am desperate for You…” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-0EgzOWkvc

In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” – Heb. 10:24)