Spiritual hunger and thirst, or starvation and dehydration?
In the Bible, Jesus speaks many times about our spirits within us, and the importance of feeding them 'living water' and the 'bread of life'. This might seem a little confusing or mysterious sometimes! How can water be living? How can bread be living? And how do we 'feed' our spirits anyway?
Read this awesome, basic breakdown of how we as Christians understand spiritual health and the ways Jesus brings life to our very spirits by being bread and water.
'Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water...
Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst."' - John 4:10-14
As Christians, we believe that each of us have a spirit that makes us 'ourselves'. This spirit is what informs our thinking, loving, doing and being. We believe that our spirits need to be nourished in ways similar to our physical bodies. When someone talks of being 'fed' or 'watered', 'hungry' or 'thirsty' spiritually, this is what they are referring to - the nourishment of their spirits.
But what will sate our thirst and what will satisfy our hunger spiritually?
What is spiritual water?
'Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.' - John 7:38-39
In order to know what 'spiritual thirst' is, we must first know what the 'spiritual water' is.
‘Living water’ as mentioned in the Book of John is a way of describing the Holy Spirit - a member of the triune, Christian God. When we put our trust in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit. This means that a new relationship formulates. We find that the Holy Spirit honours the covenant we make with Christ by residing with our spirits to bring new life.
'Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.' - Romans 12:1-2
Just as our own spirit informs our thinking, loving, doing and being - imperfectly and sinfully - the Holy Spirit contrasts and supercedes this by bringing perfection to our thinking, loving, doing and being. This is how it is to be like Christ.
How can we be filled with the Holy Spirit?
- By spending time intentionally connecting with God
- By praying and asking the Holy Spirit to refill us
- By reading the word of God with the Holy Spirit's help
- By spending time in reflection on God - Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
- By sitting in silence and meditation
- By allowing space to listen to the Holy Spirit
- By meeting together in Christian community
- By asking other Christians to pray for us
'The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.' - Romans 8:6
What is spiritual thirst?
‘Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.’ - Matthew 5:6
Spiritual Thirst: The Bible compares us to a well in our inmost being. Wells fill up from where the source is to flow upward and outward. Wells overflow. In the same way, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, life flows out from us. The more we live life seeking to be filled by the Holy Spirit, the more we will long for God and further revelation of God's character. This is known as a 'thirst'.
As we continue to be transformed by the Holy Spirit's renewing of our mind and actions, we will be more motivated in love toward God and others. Becoming ‘spiritually thirsty’ is when we are longing for the Holy Spirit to work in our spirits, our hearts are waiting earnestly for communication with God and our conscience is telling us we need to seek his will.
Spiritual Dehydration: While to 'thirst' in this sense is a good thing, a thirst going unsatisfied is not. It quickly becomes deprivation - deprivation that leads to dehydration. Each of us understand quite clearly when our physical bodies don't get the water we need, we get negative symptoms: a dry mouth, thick tongue, achy head and weak muscles.
Spiritually, if we don't get the amount of 'living water' our spirits need, we will get spiritual symptoms of deprivation. If we aren't spending time being filled and transformed by the Holy Spirit, you'll notice yourself starting to lose your temper, feeling waves of worry and a growth of guilt, selfishness and fear.
These are the signs of a dehydrated spirit.
What is spiritual bread?
'Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.” Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life."' - John 6:32-35
'I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' - John 6:51
The Bible refers to Jesus as both the 'Word of God' and the 'Bread of Life' which reflects some of the mystery and beauty in the unity of God. The Bible uses 'bread' to mean 'that which is taken into the body and provides nourishment.'
Spiritual bread is what goes into our eyes and ears to provide us nourishment. Scripture presents two basic types of bread: leavened and unleavened.
'Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.' - 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Leavened Bread: 'Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness...'
Leaven (a yeast that causes things to rise) consistently is used in the Bible to symbolise the corruption of sin. Like yeast in a dough batter, sin gets all throughout the organism and causes the whole batch to change and warp. If we are to nourish our spirits with 'leavened bread' then it could look like using our eyes and ears to consume trash books, movies, thoughts or speech that is violent, sexual or unedifying.
This kind of bread comes in a range of varieties - from sinful and unhealthy to evil and downright poisonous.
Unleavened Bread: '...the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.'
This type of bread is what we as Christians are exhorted to spiritually consume and be like. If we are looking for sincerity and truth in the things we choose to read, watch and dwell on - then we are choosing the healthful Bread of Life. This could look like reading the Bible (Bread of Life for the spirit), listening to Christian music, watching wholesome movies and choosing to speak in a way that honours others rather than tears them down.
When Matthew 4:4 speaks of living not by bread alone, but [living] on every word that comes from the mouth of God, we know we can trust the Bible to be a storehouse of God's spiritual bread and nourishment. It is a faithful witness to the words of God, and the Holy Spirit will instruct our spirits in how to read it and consume it to change us for the better.
A Christian has a choice of which spiritual nourishment to take into themselves and which bread to be. Which do you choose?
What is spiritual hunger?
You might be asking yourself - how is spiritual hunger different from spiritual thirst? I think of it this way: when you’re thirsty, you want water but when you’re hungry you need food.
Spiritual hunger: As we discussed, the Bible refers to the Word of God as the bread of life. If we are spiritually hungry, we are longing for more of the Word of God.
When I became a new Christian, about 33 years ago, I accepted Christianity without a thought because it was the way I was brought up. When I turned 40, I started thinking about what the Scriptures say and what traditional Christianity practises. I want to follow God to the best of my ability and so I wanted to know what God wanted me to do for salvation and to grow in Christlikeness. I really don't mind being the person going against the flow as long as I can stand before God at the end of my life and have Him say 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'
I had questions and I had to find the answers in God's Word. This increased my spiritual hunger for God's Word so much, I devoured the Bible through intense studying of all the areas I was questioning. It was the very reason for my increased spiritual fervour for God's Word. I hope I never stop wanting to read God's Word, and that I never stop growing in my understanding of His Ways and what He wants of me.
Spiritual starvation: Like physical hunger though, the longer you go without nourishment, the less hungry you become eventually. You then enter - without realising - starvation mode. Spiritual starvation looks like less and less of a desire for God’s Word. If you have no desire for God's word or no interest in reading the Bible - perhaps you are in a state of spiritual starvation. Come to Jesus and ask God to bring back your spiritual hunger, so you can eat spiritual bread again.
Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness
Have you ever felt you know enough about God? Have you ever felt you have had all you could want of his presence? Have you ever given up on his power?
Then that is the moment you have begun to lose your spiritual hunger and thirst. We can't let that happen! Jesus tells us that only those who have the spiritual appetite to hunger and thirst for righteousness will find satisfaction. That satisfaction is the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the development of spiritual gifts and spiritual fruit (1 Corinthians 12, Galatians 5:23-23).
Hearing the word of God preached increases our desire for righteousness. Hearing is the way Christ applies his word with power to hungry and thirsty souls - if we are serious about righteousness, then we should seek to be convicted by the preached word of God.
'For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.' - Hebrews 4:12
We should want to be 'wounded' by the sword of the Spirit - allowing the Holy Spirit to penetrate so that our sins may be identified and dealt with. We should play close attention to the voice of God and pray for it to pierce our souls so that we may be conformed to the likeness of our Saviour. We should pray as we read the Bible that the Holy Spirit will use it to renew our minds.
‘A young student went to his Rabbi and asked the question, ‘Master, how can I truly find God?’ The Rabbi asked the student to accompany him to the river which ran by the village and invited him to go into the water.
When they got to the middle of the stream, the Rabbi said, ‘Please immerse yourself in the water.’ The student did as he was instructed, whereupon the Rabbi put his hands on the young man's head and held him under the water! Presently the student began to struggle. The Rabbi held him under still longer. A moment passed and the student was thrashing and beating the water at air with his arms!
Still, the Rabbi held him under the water. Finally, the student was released and shot up from the water, lungs aching and gasping for air. The Rabbi waited for a few moments and then said, ‘When you desire God as truly as you desired to breathe the air you just breathed - then you shall find God.’
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty - John 6:35
To hunger and thirst for righteousness means that our deepest desire and longing is to be like Jesus Christ in everything. We will be walking daily through the power of the Holy Spirit. We will see things with fresh eyes and make choices informed not by sight, but by faith.
We will be keeping communication lines with God open through prayer and studying God’s Word, the Bread of Life. We will be refilled with the living water of the Holy Spirit, revealing God’s new life in us and operating in a new way. We will be literally revived, like someone who has been stranded in a desert but finally receives food and water for the first time. It may take some adjusting - but they slowly take on a whole new persona!
We are now showing Christ to the world, not our own character. We will have our prayers heard by God and walk in boldness of faith - and then we can be witnesses to all that God has done. We are now daily filled with the bread and water that never dies.
I know of nothing that will more affect your life than an unrelenting desire to be holy like Jesus Christ. Let us hunger and thirst for righteousness together, and take great joy in the promise that God will fill us to satisfaction and we will never be hungry or thirsty again.
By Tracy Andrews
WM Author | The Salvation Army Taupo