How's your appetite?

 Taste and see that the Lord is good… Psalm 34:8

Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” John 6:35

Like new born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:3

How’s your appetite?

A good appetite is a sign of good health, so it’s no wonder that in the Bible food is an important theme. In the Old Testament God gave his people the Passover meal to remind them every year of their deliverance (their “exodus”) from captivity in Egypt. And in the New, Jesus gave his church the regular remembrance meal of bread and wine to remind them of the new, greater, deliverance brought about by his death on the cross.

Apart from those key meals, the Bible places great importance in general on “table fellowship” within families and communities: meals aren’t just refuelling stops, but opportunities for fellowship and sharing.

Who you might and might not share a meal with became important, and strict rules and taboos grew up over it – which is why Jesus caused such outrage by insisting on sharing meals with people regarded as outcasts and “sinners”, and why Peter and Paul later fell out over it (Galatians 2).

But it’s the spiritual, metaphorical meaning of food that verses like the ones I’ve put at the top focus on.

First, the palmist throws out an invitation to his readers to “taste and see that the Lord is good”– as if to say, “Feed yourself on God himself and it will bring you joy and pleasure”.

Second, the apostle Peter conjures up the picture of the new-born baby eager for its mother’s milk - as if to say, “That baby knows what’s good for it! – it doesn’t need to be taught because it has a natural craving; and that’s the way you should be as new-born Christians beginning to grow in Christ”.

And then of course Jesus compared himself to bread, indeed to “the bread of life” - as if to say, “Just as you can’t live without bread, in the same way if you want true life, life as God intends it to be, then you must feed on me”.

So back to the question I started with: “How’s your appetite?” - your spiritual appetite?

Two questions spring to mind.

First, what are the marks of a healthy spiritual appetite?

That’s a big question which deserves a big answer. But perhaps we can boil it down to something like this…

The Christian life involves various disciplines without which we cannot grow in Christ. We might sum them up as: regular worship and fellowship; a determined personal prayer life; a habit of regular reading and reflecting on the Bible; a sensitive conscience which is aware of the dangers of sin; a daily determination to live a holy, Christ-centred life and to be of service to him.

If we can look into our hearts without being either complacent on the one had or overly self-condemning on the other and honestly say, “Yes, in all humility I think that those desires are indeed there, albeit not as strongly as I would like” – then I think that that indicates a healthy appetite.

It’s important to realise that that desire for God doesn’t have to be – indeed, can’t always be - red-hot. Even the finest Christians are subject to natural moods and feelings, and are affected by the ups and downs of daily events. Many fine Christians down the centuries have suffered from what today we call “depression”, what might in earlier times have been referred to as “melancholy” – you think of the psalmist questioning himself, “Why, my soul, are you downcast?” (Psalm 42), and not being able to find a clear-cut answer.

A simple, honest, humble desire to walk with God by faith, however imperfect: that suggests a healthy spiritual appetite.

Second, how can I restore my spiritual appetite if it has in fact withered away?

Do I just force myself against my own grain to go on doing the things I listed? Turning up to church purely as a duty? Forcing myself to pray out of a permanently cold heart? Scolding myself for bad habits even though I know I am going to continue in them, knowing that in truth I have no intention of breaking free from them?

If we have reached that point then very possibly some serious action is needed. Why not have an honest talk with a pastor or other spiritual adviser? If we find it hard over a long period to pray privately, why not ask a trusted Christian friend to pray both with us and for us?

And perhaps it’s time to have a ruthlessly honest self-examination, facing up to the habitual sins that we have drifted into.

I suggested earlier that in the ups and downs of the spiritual life we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves. But now we need to see the other side of the coin: neither should we be too soft with ourselves if indeed our hearts have become indifferent to God. Change may be needed – a radical change of heart, followed by a change of life-pattern. That may be humbling and painful – but oh what joy it will ultimately bring!

Whatever, we need to constantly remind ourselves that God loves us as a father and a mother love their children. He is the God who promised his people, “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10).

Claim that promise! Hold him to it! And see how, perhaps very slowly, he restores your spiritual appetite.

Lord, it is my chief complaint/ That my love is weak and faint;/ Yet I love thee, and adore;/ O for grace to love thee more. Amen!

William Cowper (1731-1800)