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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.
When we
read through Amos 8, we hear many complaints of the Lord. The people can’t wait for the holy days to be
over so they can get back to their regular life where their interests lie. They trample the needy. They walk all over the poor. In fact, they are even willing to buy the
poor like slaves.
Do you
hear what God’s grievance truly is? The
appetite of the people is interfering with a lifestyle that is congruent to God’s
ways. The appetite of the people is
causing them to look upon fellow human beings as a means to profit rather than
as a means to express grace and love.
The appetite of the people for economic gain is pulling the people away
from the Lord in general.
Look down
towards the end of the chapter. Do you
hear the natural conclusion to human appetite?
When we hunger and thirst for things that are not of the Lord –
especially when we do it as a nation – God will cause a spiritual famine to come
among us. I don’t think that it is a
coincidence that our hunger for things that are not of God causes a famine of
spiritual proportion.
Of
course, I can’t help but wonder if the famine is really God’s doing or God’s
allowing us to reach the natural conclusion to our actions. After all, if only a very small percent of a
population cares about God and His ways, where would the spirituality come
from? Where would the examples be? Where would God draw out His prophets and
teachers and evangelists? Our earthly
appetite results in a spiritual famine of our own making – a famine God
presents to us as the consequence of our choices.
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