It takes less than a minute.  Often it happens in 30 seconds or less.  Sometimes I haven’t even reached the garage yet before they are swooping in and landing.

Even though I have witnessed the occurrence repeatedly, it still amazes me.  How do the birds arrive so quickly at the bird feeder after I have refilled it?  I don’t follow a certain timetable in number of days or even time of day; I add seed when I am able.  So how is it that the birds are perching and pecking at it so very quickly?

There can only be one explanation; the birds are constantly watching the feeder, ready and eager to eat as soon as new food is provided!  Undoubtedly, they are going about their daily bird business every day throughout the day.  But their eyes must continually return to their favorite food source.  Then, when food is supplied, they immediately descend.

Bailey, our golden retriever, is much the same.  With him we do have a feeding schedule, but it still varies to a degree.  He’s an outside dog, but he knows when breakfast or dinner is close, and he certainly recognizes the sounds of his meals being prepared.  So when we deliver it to him on the back porch he is sitting and staring expectantly at the opening door.  Upon spotting his dinner dish, the excited antics begin.

We witnessed this with our own children … especially when they were young.  All it took was one call, or the ringing of the dinner bell – yes, we used one – to elicit excited cries and bring multiple pairs of feet running to the table.

And let’s be honest.  Who of us isn’t delighted to sit down to a delicious meal?  As my father-in-law likes to say, “Call me whatever name you want; just don’t call me late for dinner.”  Most of us can relate.  And especially if the lovely aroma of cooking food has been filling our nostrils for a while!

When physical creatures are hungry, they are eager to eat!  This is natural, normal and good.

Physical hunger is easy to recognize and relatively easy to gauge.  We might not be hungry at all.  Or we might be a little hungry, quite hungry or extremely hungry.  Simply ask a person, any person, and they will be able to immediately inform you of their current hunger status.

Easy to tell when referring to physical hunger.  But what about spiritual hunger?

Physical hunger drives us to seek food.  The hungrier we are, the more desperately we pursue addressing the hunger pains.  But spiritual hunger is a totally different matter. 

The first dilemma is whether we even notice it.  The second is how do we slake it?

Let’s address the second question first.  How do we satisfy our spiritual hunger? 

The fasting and physically hungry Jesus provided the answer when being tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread.  Quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).

The Lord stated this same truth with beautiful word pictures in the book of Isaiah: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live” (Isaiah 55:1-3).

How does one address spiritual hunger?  By listening to God speak through his Word!  

This is relatively easy to comprehend, but not so easily implemented.

There happens to be an interesting contrast between physical food and spiritual food (God’s Word).  With “real” bread, the more one eats, the less hungry they become.  (At least temporarily.)  With spiritual bread, the more one eats, the more they crave!  Or to state it another way, the less physical food entering a body, the more physically hungry that person will become.  But often the less spiritual food a soul ingests, the less a person desires it.

Yet the ultimate outcome of food deprivation is the same: if the body doesn’t receive enough physical food, or a soul enough spiritual food, each will die!  The difference?  The body’s warning signs that it is lacking sustenance are obvious; the soul’s warning signs are much more subtle.

Yet the signs are there.  God built humans with a deep need for Him.  The less God is a part of a person, the more that person will struggle.  That’s not to say that strong Christians don’t suffer!  We all do in this sin-permeated world.  But the more starved one’s soul becomes, the more prominent the issues which display themselves in that person’s life.

The most obvious: selfishness.  The less God reigns in one’s heart, the more “self” will.  Of course, this shows itself in a myriad of ways.  Spiritual hunger certainly displays itself in how one deals with others, but also with how one views and acts with self.  Priorities, attitudes, self-esteem, and life decisions are all impacted by lack of spiritual nutrition. 

Physically hungry?  Undesirable, but not to worry.  You will recognize and undoubtedly address it, and probably relatively quickly.

Spiritually hungry?  Great!  That means you are in God’s Word and craving more!  Keep feeding your faith! 

Not really feeling it?  Well, that almost certainly means you need to start a diet; a diet of regular time in the Word of God.  If you keep at it, the awesome news is you will get more and more spiritually hungry, which is a wonderful thing … as strange as it sounds.

We would be wise to mimic the birds in my backyard, always watching for fresh food.  And when an opportunity to feed on God’s Word presents itself, to be eager to consume it!