Sometimes I’m pretty ashamed of myself. Most of those times come when I meditate on the suffering of Jesus on my behalf, which means every Sunday morning as I partake of His supper, I am pretty ashamed of myself.
I’m ashamed that I let my attitude toward others be anything other than Jesus’ attitude. I’m ashamed that I don’t communicate with my Father with the same regularity and zeal that Jesus did. I’m ashamed that I don’t make the time to learn from His word, because that means I must not be hungry for it. And I’m ashamed that I excuse myself because I do study every Sunday and Wednesday and sometimes every night in between (you know, those special occasions like gospel meetings, lectureships, etc.).
Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be both blessed and filled (Mt.5:6). Part of the problem with living in a land of abundance is that I’ve never been hungry or thirsty, really, so I don’t quite grasp the concept. That translates into never really putting that much effort into being hungry for the word, which is something I SHOULD be ashamed of.
When it came to being hungry for the word, the first century church (you know, the one we’re trying to be!) had it right — and we’ve completely missed the mark on it. When we go to Acts 20:7-11, we see them hungering and thirsting for the word:
Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.” Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed.
Now, we don’t know how long before midnight Paul started preaching, but it was long enough for someone to go to sleep! Even it was only an hour, verse 11 says that he continued until daybreak. So, that’s at least what, 5 hours? 6 hours? It’s likely that these people spent close to 7 or 8 hours listening to Paul and worshipping God — in one sitting!
Today, we complain if the preacher goes over his 35 minute time slot. We complain if we have to go back on Sunday night or Wednesday night. Or, we simply think we’re righteous because we do show up for every scheduled meeting, thus giving God approximately 4 hours out of our busy week. Four hours! That’s shameful! Clearly we aren’t hungry people. We aren’t longing for the bread of life to be broken unto us. If we think giving 4 out of 168 hours is righteous, we are deceiving ourselves! I am deceiving myself! Jesus said to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Mt. 6:33). If we think 4 hours out of 168 is first place, we’re fooling ourselves!
The first century Christians came together daily (Acts 2:46) and studied scriptures daily (Acts 17:11). They were on fire for the cause of Christ and it showed – because every Christian proclaimed God’s message everywhere they went (Acts 8:4)! If we want to be the New Testament church, we have to be New Testament Christians, and New Testament Christians hungered for the Word of God.
The only question left is, do you want to be fed?
