Arousing Curiosity for Christ

IOW quote for January 18, 2008

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits for long, so very long, in vain."~A.W.Tozer~

If you look around we all seem to have our longings. For example, the young child who longs for a certain toy or pony to play with. The meticulous collector of antiques, Holstein cows, or whatever who are constantly looking for more things to add to their collection. Or the unwavering skier longing for the first snow to come so they can go out and enjoy it. Most longings or cravings for things don’t seem to go away. The skier is not satisfied with only the first snow, they continue after their desire until the last snow is gone. Nor is the antique collector content with their one-piece collection from an antique shop.

Having a longing is something that needs fed or it eventually will go away. If it’s a true craving that we have we don’t need to be told to keep it alive we just do by the desire behind the longing. Different people long for different things but we should all have a longing for God especially Christians. If we don’t how else are we going to spread the hunger, the craving, or the desire for Jesus. Our longing for Jesus wasn’t meant to end the minute we accept Him into our lives. It’s part of an appetite that needs to grow, as we get more and more hungry for Him.

Recently when I was sent to Anaheim on a business trip, one of my co-workers wanted me to pick up ten dollars worth of rice crispy treats shaped like Disney characters. The look on her face just before I left when I threatened to eat her treats if she wasn’t nice to me showed just how determined she was to get them.

Lucky for her, no lucky for me I was able to satisfy her craving for these special treats. In the meantime it sparked my curiosity as to what was so special about these things that while in California I went looking for one to try myself. The store where we had bought hers had just closed, I had waited too long and there went my opportunity to see what was so special about these things.

The happy ending to that was my co-worker shared with me one of Mickey’s ears so I was able to get a taste of them. Are we sharing Christ like we should, spreading the hunger for something that is good? Where is our craving for Christ, do we show that much determination that the person next to us begins to get curious at what it is about Jesus that makes us want Him so much.

If not, we need to revisit our own craving or longing for Jesus. The hunger starts with those who’ve already tasted that the Lord is good. As Psalm 34:8 says, “oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.” (NKJV) Bring Him back from church, bring Him back from your small group study, bring Him back to share with others. Arouse the curiosity on what a wonderful thing it is to have Jesus in our lives. Pretty soon the store is going to close, the lights will be out and there won’t be another chance to shop for Jesus. He longs to be wanted, now is not the time to ignore the hunger.

Dear Heavenly Father, through tears flowing down my cheeks I think of my own longing and craving for You. Thank you Lord that You are everywhere. We don’t need to travel hundreds of miles to find a certain church, a special place to find You, you’re available to all. May our desire for You always be so strong that those around us get hungry for You. For Your love, Your gentle touch, Your caring heart, Your listening ears, and especially for that wonderful feeling of knowing that we are wanted by You. We love you Father God, may we always do our part in showing it to You and those around us. Amen.

Our host this week is Debbie at her site, Praise and Coffee. Stop in and see and share what others write about today’s quote. You may not be a writer yourself but you can share your longing and desire for God in other ways. Go for it. Spread the hunger.