Bible Reading: Psalm 107:9, NKJV
As we turn the page and enter a new year, let me ask you this: Are you full?
You may think I’m talking about those delicious feasts that many enjoy during the Christmas season, but I’m actually talking about a different kind of hunger. While food that nourishes our bodies is good, it is nowhere near as eternally important as that which nourishes the soul. We need something that will feed the spiritual hunger that is within us.
My grandfather, Billy Graham, often said that there’s a “God-shaped hole” inside each of us. It’s that space that many people try to fill with wealth, possessions, sex, drugs, alcohol, or work. They search for their purpose or significance, but do so in vain.
The problem is, the things of this world are fleeting, they’re broken, and they’ll eventually let you down. Money and belongings can be ripped away from you in a moment. Relationships falter. Drugs and alcohol wear off and leave you right back where you were, or worse.
There’s a beautiful passage in the book of Psalms that I’ve grown to love: “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness” (Psalm 107:9, NKJV).
It’s such a simple sentence, but it encompasses all that mankind has been seeking for millennia. It is God who fills us up. He is the One who refreshes our soul and dwells in our innermost self, meeting those needs and desires that seem to be so elusive. We hunger for Him, and He alone satisfies.