“Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
I have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared for all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!” Luke 2:29-32, NLT
I knew a husband and wife once, who made it a daily practice of going to early Mass at their church. I was impressed by their daily inclusion of that worship practice and apparent hunger to be closer to God.
If you were around the Temple in Jerusalem during Jesus’ early life, you would have probably seen an elderly man and elderly woman around the temple. One desire consumed their lives, and that was to see the promised Messiah. Simeon and Anna are good examples of what it looks like to be hungry for things of God.
The Bible has some good examples of people who spent their lives dwelling on hopes and expectations pertaining to God. Lydia was a wealthy woman in Philippi who gathered with others to pray on the Sabbath.
Cornelius, a captain in the Roman army, was “devout” by Luke’s description. He, along with his family, was generous to the poor and prayerful. Luke writes that Cornelius’ prayers were heard by God who instructed Cornelius to send for Peter. When Peter arrived, Cornelius said, “We are here waiting… to hear the message the Lord has given you,” Acts 10:33.
“Waiting to hear…”
David said he was like a thirsty deer. Lydia regularly gathered with others to pray and worship God. And Cornelius had an active prayer life centered around hearing what God had for Cornelius to hear. All of these expressed their hunger for God and for the things of God.
Hunger is well defined, and it is clear if one is hungry or not. Hunger is that pit-of-the-stomach growling or aching to be fed. It is the understanding that one will die unless the hunger is assuaged. Hunger is demanding. It focuses one’s attentions.
Victor Hugo’s story, Les Misérables, is about a man who steals bread to feed his hungry family. His desire was similar to that of Simeon and Anna who wanted to see the Messiah and made it an expressed behavior. Have you ever experienced this hunger?
Prayer:
O God, we long for you and for the day in which your presence in our lives will be knowable, touchable, and experienced. In the meantime, may we spend our pilgrimage filling our lives with the things you have given us. May we experience what it means to be filled with your goodness and to be satisfied. Amen.