"I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."
Job 23:12
I can see this little boy in my mind's eye almost on a daily basis. Two years ago I had the privilege of going to Togo, Africa. In a village in the northern part of the country, a young boy came walking up with the rest of the children. All of the pictures from magazines and television can not prepare you for reality. This little boy's eyes were sunk back into his head. His belly was protruding and swollen in a grotesque fashion as he suffered from malnutrition. To see such a small child literally starving to death is almost more than one can bear.
When I read the words of Job, I am reminded of that moment. We live in a society today that knows nothing of this type of starvation. We have food in such abundance that we have cable channels dedicated to the subject. We know nothing of the term "necessary food'. We think that the abundant amounts that we eat are necessary. Job was talking about the minimal amount that is necessary for survival. Your body needs fuel and that is what food is supposed to do for you. If you have ever been on a prolonged fast, you know that when you come off of it your body craves only those things that are healthy for you. That is your necessary food. Your body is telling you that it needs those things in order to survive.
Job relates God and His Word to this type of food. God was the craving of Job's soul. That is all that he needed, and it was truthfully all that he wanted. He had known what it was to be rich and have the abundance of things. There was a day in Job's life where he lacked absolutely nothing. If he wanted to sit down to a feast with his family, it was just a matter of ordering the servants to prepare it. Now, however, he had lost every thing. When someone has lost it all and has nothing, you find out what their soul truly craves. Job's soul craved only God. He preferred God more than that which would help him survive from day to day. If you study the context of the passage, you will find out something very interesting about Job. He was not craving God because he had lost it all. Job had a desire for God when he had every thing.
What do you crave each and every day? Are you craving the things of this world and what would satisfy you above what would please God? I wonder if we entered into a fast from the things of the world if we would begin to crave God more. Many Christians today are in a spiritual place of malnutrition. Their spiritual eyes are sunk back into their heads, and their spiritual bellies are swollen with a lack of nourishment from God's Word. Make a decision for Christ today that He is all you want and sit at the banquet table of His presence.
May you be filled with God today!
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