Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Appetite
- Appetite: We all
have needs that need to be filled. When we allow ourselves to
be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we
will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus. But
when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by
an insatiable hunger.
I’m going
to go a bit on the symbolic route today, but I think that this is a good day to
talk about human lust. I don’t mean
sexual lust. I mean the lust that is
within our own hearts. I mean that we
should talk about how we as human beings will often move heaven and earth to
accomplish what our heart truly desires.
That’s lust. It comes out of the
appetite of our hearts.
Symbolically,
the psalmist gets this concept. Look at
what he says. There are people who are
wandering around the world looking for him so that they can take care of him
and report back to Saul for their reward.
How does the psalmist describe them?
They are like dogs, howling in the night, looking for food, and growling
when they don’t get their fill. The
psalmist understands this concept. When
people are living out of the lusts of their heart, human beings become like
animals who are hungrily pursuing the prey out of the hunger in our being.
The
appetite – that is, lust – of humanity blinds us to community. When our appetite takes over, we stop
thinking about others. When our appetite
takes over we stop being concerned about community and how our actions will
impact the people around us. When our
appetite takes over we stop considering whether or not our actions are in line
with godliness or actually working against God’s plan for us. That’s what David ultimately critiques about
the people who are seeking him out. They
are more concerned about fulfilling their role in Saul’s kingdom and receiving
their reward than they are concerned about fulfilling their role in God’s
kingdom. That’s the danger of appetite.
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