Increasing your appetite for Jesus
Do you feel close to Jesus? Are you where God wants you in relationship with His Son? Has your passion dwindled and your love for our Lord faded? If we are honest with ourselves, we would all conclude we need improvement in this area.
Many times, I have heard people seeking counsel, ask how to regain the passion and hunger that they once had toward Jesus. I have answered each one the same way, with these questions. What causes our appetite to grow or increase? Is it lack or abundance? Almost always, they answer “lack”. But the true answer is “abundance”. Let’s compare our natural appetite to our spiritual appetite.
First of all, how can you crave something you have never tasted or experienced? Secondly, once you taste or experience something, you must feed that craving in order for it to grow. If you lose your appetite for something, how can you go about regaining it? All will agree that starvation is not the answer. So what is? Well, in Revelation 2:4&5, Jesus said “ Go and do your first works over “ In other words, do the same things that you did in the beginning.
Now you see where this is going. So let me ask you this. When you first experienced Jesus, how did you grow closer to Him? How did you feed your appetite for Christ? Before you answer, let me remind you we are not talking about the things of God, but God Himself. To put it another way, this is not about our relationship with the Church, our brothers and sisters or even ministry, but simply our relationship with the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Reflecting back to my first encounter or experience with Christ, growth was stimulated by reading and studying God’s Word, communing with His Spirit, and spending time in prayer.
So we can determine that an appetite or passion for Christ can grow only when fed with Christ. When we try to satisfy our craving for Jesus with ministry, fellowship, church services and religious ceremony it will cause our appetite for Jesus to wane and increase our appetite for these things. Before we continue, I want to clarify that our obedience to the Word should be a result of our passion or love for Christ and never be allowed to take the place of Christ.
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me , and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.”
John 6:56&57 NIV
Jesus makes it very clear, we must feed on Him to remain in Him. It seems simple enough. The Israelites grew tired of the manna and complained. Is that our problem too? Are we attempting to broaden our pallet? Are we bored with Christ? How could this be? Maybe we have not tasted all that Christ is. Maybe we have mistaken religion for Christ. David said in Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” I think enough has been covered to challenge us.
Now here is a practical way you can respond to the challenge. Give Jesus 30 minutes as follows;
10 minutes of praise
10 minutes of reading / studying the word
10 minutes of prayer
Each day for one week. Evaluate your hunger for Christ at the end of one week and see if it has increased. If it has not , maybe something is in the way of you growing in your relationship with Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any dis-obedience, Then repent and ask our Father to forgive you and then repeat the procedure mentioned above. As your passion grows,increase the time you spend in each area each day. You will be amazed, as well as all those around you at the change in your passion and love for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
Do you feel close to Jesus? Are you where God wants you in relationship with His Son? Has your passion dwindled and your love for our Lord faded? If we are honest with ourselves, we would all conclude we need improvement in this area.
Many times, I have heard people seeking counsel, ask how to regain the passion and hunger that they once had toward Jesus. I have answered each one the same way, with these questions. What causes our appetite to grow or increase? Is it lack or abundance? Almost always, they answer “lack”. But the true answer is “abundance”. Let’s compare our natural appetite to our spiritual appetite.
First of all, how can you crave something you have never tasted or experienced? Secondly, once you taste or experience something, you must feed that craving in order for it to grow. If you lose your appetite for something, how can you go about regaining it? All will agree that starvation is not the answer. So what is? Well, in Revelation 2:4&5, Jesus said “ Go and do your first works over “ In other words, do the same things that you did in the beginning.
Now you see where this is going. So let me ask you this. When you first experienced Jesus, how did you grow closer to Him? How did you feed your appetite for Christ? Before you answer, let me remind you we are not talking about the things of God, but God Himself. To put it another way, this is not about our relationship with the Church, our brothers and sisters or even ministry, but simply our relationship with the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Reflecting back to my first encounter or experience with Christ, growth was stimulated by reading and studying God’s Word, communing with His Spirit, and spending time in prayer.
So we can determine that an appetite or passion for Christ can grow only when fed with Christ. When we try to satisfy our craving for Jesus with ministry, fellowship, church services and religious ceremony it will cause our appetite for Jesus to wane and increase our appetite for these things. Before we continue, I want to clarify that our obedience to the Word should be a result of our passion or love for Christ and never be allowed to take the place of Christ.
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me , and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.”
John 6:56&57 NIV
Jesus makes it very clear, we must feed on Him to remain in Him. It seems simple enough. The Israelites grew tired of the manna and complained. Is that our problem too? Are we attempting to broaden our pallet? Are we bored with Christ? How could this be? Maybe we have not tasted all that Christ is. Maybe we have mistaken religion for Christ. David said in Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” I think enough has been covered to challenge us.
Now here is a practical way you can respond to the challenge. Give Jesus 30 minutes as follows;
10 minutes of praise
10 minutes of reading / studying the word
10 minutes of prayer
Each day for one week. Evaluate your hunger for Christ at the end of one week and see if it has increased. If it has not , maybe something is in the way of you growing in your relationship with Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any dis-obedience, Then repent and ask our Father to forgive you and then repeat the procedure mentioned above. As your passion grows,increase the time you spend in each area each day. You will be amazed, as well as all those around you at the change in your passion and love for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
