Randering Through Proverbs : Hunger and Faithfulness (Day 16)

Chapter 16 is a good one! There was so much in this chapter that encouraged me and reinforced everything I've been reading over the last couple of weeks. At this rate, I might actually learn something!

So on to what stuck out to me today: one verse led me to ask a troubling question and the other to rejoice in awe of my awesome God.

First, the question:

"The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on."  (v. 26)

I know an awful lot about what someone will do for a meal when they are hungry.  After all, I am the mother of 3 growing boys!  I have seen my boys do some pretty desperate things for a cheeseburger (or a 2 day old cappuccino.  So gross...trust me - you do NOT want to know the rest of that story.)

I have witnessed physical hunger.  But what about spiritual hunger?  Here in America we have more churches and bibles and "Christian TV" and "religious books" than we know what to do with!  We are drowning in spiritual resources.  In fact, you could say we are "stuffed" from being "over-fed" and, for many of us, we cannot swallow one more bite.

Yet our country seems to be falling farther and farther away from the very principals God commands us to live by.  Why?  What would happen if we couldn't access our churches 24/7?  What if there was no Christian radio or TV?  What if all the book publishing houses closed down and all we had to read was our Grandmother's old King James bible with no commentary or daily devotional to tell us what to think? *gasp!*

What if we were not constantly spoon fed a watered down gospel every time we picked up a self-help book or sat in our local church pews?

How long would it take for real hunger to set in?  How long would it take for the hunger to drive us toward God?  How long would we go before we truly began to seek God's face with a hunger and a thirst that could not be quenched by cliches and selfish temporary fixes?

Just asking...

Second, reveling in my God's awesomeness:

"Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for..."  (v. 6)

 At first, this seems like such a simple verse.  But read it again.  And again...this time slowly and outloud.

The more I read this verse and the more I let its meaning seep into my spirit...

The tears fill my eyes once again just as I think about it now.

God loved us.  God was faithful - regardless of the cost, the sacrifice, the pain...

God loved us and was faithful to finish what He started.  He could have backed out - he could have decided we were not worth it.  That our sin and failures were too much to bear.

But He did not.  Because God is faithful and he always keeps his promises.

His love and faithfulness atoned for my sin.   

My sin...

Oh my, soul...rejoice!

For as he promised...it is finished.

*contented, thankful, joyful, tears-of-joy, sigh*


Rejoice and be blessed...