June 23, 2021 — What Are You Hungry For?

The Lord said, “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it,” but like any good parent, He will only fill it with what’s good for us.

Because there are significant periods of time between the recorded interactions of God with the human race, we may make false assumptions if we’re not careful. In our story today in Genesis 27, we may assume Isaac is near the end of his life. He is well over one hundred at this point. However, we will later discover that he lived until he was 180 (Gen 35:28)! We jump to wrong conclusions because we read that he “was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see” (27:1). But he obviously lived in this condition for a long time. Nevertheless his poor eyesight figures prominently in the story, and perhaps it is a parable of his growing spiritual imperception as well. He and Esau seem to be kin in their natural appetites, and the father, promising to bless his son with the blessing of God, first required Esau to hunt for him a good meal of savory game (vv 2-4). The Bible warns us of those “whose god is their belly…who set their mind on earthly things” (Php 3:19). Such was the case of Isaac, who wanted a meal before his blessing, and Esau, who saw his father’s blessing merely as a way to increase his bank account. This is a trend often seen today in many religious leaders who are, as Paul describes them, “destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain” (1 Tim 6:5). How should we respond instead? “Seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For…your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:1-3). As the Lord Jesus promised, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Mt 5:6). As we shall see, Jacob may go about it in the wrong way, but at least he was hungry for the right things.

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Spiritual-Hunger