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Most of us here today do not really understand what it is to be extremely physically hungry. God has blessed us and even though we have occasional "hunger pangs" we always have plenty to eat. My Grandfather came through the depression in the 1920s and 1930s. He was a child lost in a large family and there were many days that they only had broth and maybe a couple of sweet potatoes to eat. Papaw learned to hunt at an early age, not as a hobby or sport but because of necessity. He said that his father would hand him two shotgun shells or two bullets for the rifle, and he was expected to come back with two pieces of game. Papaw was a terrific shot because he had to be. They couldn't afford the luxury of shooting through expensive boxes of shells. They set traps every winter and worked hard in the springtime and summer to keep up a garden and fruit trees. And they usually just barely made it by. He knew what it was like to be hungry.

As a child I didn't understand all of this. At Thanksgiving time, we would go over to my grandparent's house and my Memaw and mother would create a feast. There would be 6 or 7 different kinds of pies., a huge turkey (sometimes 2), a big juicy ham, several different types of dressings, and tons of vegetables and breads. It was something to see! And we would always gather around the table and stand up and Papaw would pray the blessing and every year it was the same pattern: he would pray on and on for 4 or 5 minutes, thanking God for blessing us. As a kid we joked about how long Papaw prayed, but as I got older I realized that the reason that Papaw took that thanksgiving blessing so seriously is because he was really the only one at the table who knew what it was like to be truly hungry. I can still vividly remember the Thanksgiving that when we looked up after the prayer, to our amazement my grandfather was crying. When asked, he said that he was crying because he remembered a Thanksgiving day when they didn't have anything to eat and a neighbor had cooked for them. To say that being truly hungry affected the rest of my Papaw's life is an understatement. He always cleaned his plate of everything that put upon it. As a kid staying at my grandparent's house, I had to eat ALL of the potato, including the skin. I never once heard my grandfather complain about the taste or condition of anything that he ate. He had known what it was like to be really hungry and that experience forever changed his attitude and life.

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There is a law of the hungry in the Word of God. God always responds to true hunger. In our text, Jesus referred to an incident that happened in the life of David that clearly illustrates this point. David had been anointed king as a boy, but rather have a peaceful ascension to the throne, King Saul was jealously chasing David around the country trying to kill him.

After spending weeks of running for his life and having to spend the past three days hiding in a dark cave with some other young men, David was starving to death. In desperation, he went to the temple and begged the priest for some food. The priest told David that there was no normal food there, and the only thing that was available was the shewbread which was placed in the temple before the Lord and which could only be eaten by the priests.

When David desperately begged for the bread, the priest hesitated because he knew that the commandment was that it was only to be for the priests. I Samuel 22:10 tells us that he inquired of the Lord and asked God if he should break the law and give the shewbread to David. To the priest's amazement, God granted permission and David and his men were fed the frankincense sprinkled, shewbread that was only supposed to be given to the Levites.

David was never punished for eating the bread. God knew that there was coming a day (Grace) when the shewbread and the Levites would be done away with so God did not break his moral law and allow David to steal, lie, or murder, or whatever. But something about David's hunger, caused God to step out of time and reach around to the other side of Calvary and partake of the shewbread that under law was not supposed to be eaten by anybody but the priests. God was showing David and all of us who would read these events later about the "Law of the Hungry." That true hunger moves God like nothing else so much that He will step out of time and go out of His way to fulfill it. The Law of the Hungry was greater than the law of ceremony.

Jesus preached and taught the law of the hungry. He wanted it to be made clear that God responds to those who are hungering and thirsting after God.

In our text, the disciples were eating corn on the Sabbath day that they had just picked. In an extreme form, that was "reaping" which was forbidden on the Sabbath day by ceremonial law. But Jesus allowed his disciples to pick and eat that morning because they were hungry and when the Pharisees asked about it, He reminded them of the story of David eating the shewbread.

Jesus was letting them know that he was coming to change things. No longer would ceremonies and rituals be what moved God, but in the Dispensation of Grace, the Law of the Hungry would be what God was looking after! Time and time again Jesus healed on the Sabbath which the Pharisees had made unlawful. Why did He do it? Jesus was responding to the people's hunger for a miracle in their life to make what is wrong right.

God does not want a ritual to worship Him. God is not looking for some ceremony that is performed with the perfect words and right moves. God cares less about the ceremonies and rituals of the church that men have invented to worship God. They just allow men to go through the motions of worship without worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. What God is interested in is someone who is hungry for everything that God has for them. God is not interested in someone who will be satisfied with religious routine but someone who desperately and fervently desires to know God stronger and closer!

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Jesus taught the masses in the greatest sermon ever preached on the Sermon on the Mount and He said:

The word for hunger here in the Greek means "to crave" or "to excessively desire." That's what hunger is: a craving, to desire something so much that it consumes you that everything else in life doesn't matter until that craving that hunger if fulfilled.

But the key phrase here is "after righteousness." Notice Jesus did not just say "Blessed are they that hunger." He said Blessed are they that hunger and thirst AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS! What you hunger for determines what you receive from God. The word in the Greek for righteousness here means "what is acceptable unto God."

If you want to be blessed then you have to become hungry for the things of God. You have to crave to be more like Jesus Christ in every area of your life. You have to have a consuming desire to change your lifestyle to match this righteous Word. Religion and ritual do not bring about a change in your life. But a hunger for the things of God do. You've got to have a desire that things must be different. You've got to have a hunger to see God's face. That means to see things the way that God sees them. Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness!

For they SHALL BE FILLED! The word for "filled" means "to feed in excessive abundance." It doesn't say they might be filled. It doesn't say that they could be filled. They SHALL be filled! When you get a hunger for the things of God and allow that to become your driving force, then you will be filled with the things of God! What are the things of God? Peace, love, and joy in the Holy Ghost. A rest even in a time of storm. A calm assurance that everything is going to be alright. A miracle even when the doctors said there was no hope. Financial peace in knowing that God is going to take care my family even if the economy of man goes south. Seeing my children and my grandchildren grow up to serve God and obey His Word. Seeing my family and friends receive the precious Holy Ghost! Having a close walk with God that I never imagined was possible! Having God work through me to touch other people's lives! Spending an eternity with Him in a much better place with streets of gold! But you must HUNGER after the things of God! Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled!

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I want you to realize that nobody ever taught you how to be hungry. It was a desire placed in you by God. When you were a baby, you didn't know much, but you knew what it was like to be hungry and you quickly learned that the way to get that hunger soothed was to cry out and get desperate!

When God placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, He placed a hunger in them. His first and only commandment to them involved hunger and the satisfying of that hunger. He told them that they could eat of every tree in the garden except one. They had many trees to eat from and only one forbidden. What are you saying preacher? I'm saying before any other law in the spirit was ever established. Before there was a Moses and the 10 commandments. Before there was a concept of sacrifice and blood atonement. Before there even was the prophecy of a Messiah to come and Calvary... God instituted the Law of the Hungry! If you learn everything there is to know about the laws and commandments of God. If you memorize the scriptures until you can quote them cover to cover. If you get every theological degree that man can bestow and learn to speak ancient Greek and Hebrew fluently... And yet you never get a hunger for the things of God. Yet you never get a hunger to know Him and to please Him, then you will never get anything from God! The Law of the Hungry supercedes all other commandments. It will do no good to obey the commandments if you do not do so out of a passionate desire for more of God!

What happened in the Garden of Eden teaches us two things. First, every human being is born with a natural hunger that must be satisfied. And second, Satan knows of this hunger and that is how he tries to get to humanity.

Satan doesn't care if your hunger gets fulfilled as long as you don't get it fulfilled by God. Satan is trying to get you to satisfy your spiritual appetite on sinful things! Sex and sensual pleasure is everywhere you look. It's advertised on billboards and on the magazine rack. It's in every sitcom and show on television. It's in almost every song on the radio. Porn on the internet is the new number one cause for divorce and marital troubles now. The world and Hollywood is saying it doesn't matter, go ahead and fulfill your natural hunger.

Alcohol and nightlife are the way of the world. Everywhere you go there are signs and ads trying to get your attention. Sundays used to be a day to come worship God with your family, but are now a day of sports and leisure. Is it any coincidence that the sports world places their biggest events on Sunday? Is it any coincidence that the wildest parties are always scheduled for the weekends? Is it any wonder that the special events on television are always scheduled for primetime on Saturday or Sunday? Those are easy things to mention because they are obvious, but what about: is it any wonder that the world wants you to work, work, work to get more money to buy more things and work so much that there is not time for God? No, Satan is making sure that you have plenty to fulfill your spiritual hunger!

In our other text, the wise man wrote:

Someone who is full and satisfied is very picky in what they eat. But when you get really hungry, you will eat anything even bitter things! We look in disgust at the homeless person rummaging through the trash can to find an orange peel or an old moldy piece of bread, but that's because we are physically satisfied. There are probably certain kinds of foods that we'd rather not eat. We're picky because we are satisfied and have everything that we need.

When a person turns to alcohol and drugs, they are proving that they are spiritually starving. Alcohol and drugs are a bitter spiritual food. A few moments of high yields way to a lifetime of regret, family problems, and physical illnesses. Your sexual affair of fornication or adultery is a momentary gratification that will give you a lifetime of bitterness and troubles. Money and overtime work that seems so important and worth missing church over, will stress you out till you lose your health, and sink you in debt until you don't have even time for your close family. That recreation and sports, while not being sinful in themselves, yet are a poor substitute for the things of God and causes you to go through the motions of worship without the result! Sin is a bitter spiritual food. And yet people return to it, over and over again! Like the homeless man rummaging through the trash bin, your sin and lifestyle is proving that you are spiritually starving because you are so hungry that you think that the bitter things of this world taste sweet!

The world doesn't understand a Godly lifestyle. They claim that we are holy than thou and condenscending because we won't party with them and participate in their sinful actions. But let me clarify why I choose to live by the Word of God in every area of my life. I have hungered after the things of God and have been spiritually filled! When I leave the house of God, I leave so excessively fed! David said " thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies ... my cup runneth over!" That's the way that I feel in my relationship with God: I just keep hungering after more of God and He keep filling me! Pardon me if I sound a little uppity when I say that after dining at the Father's table, and eating the finest spiritual food that can be given in the universe, that the orange peels and garbage that this world offers doesn't appeal to me! Why would I want to go dig through the trash bin of sin and eat the bitter fruit when I have the King's table prepared before me? The heartache of alcohol and nightlife doesn't appeal to me, I'll take a good relationship with my family and the bountiful blessings that eating the Manna from heaven brings. The appeals of sexual immorality doesn't appeal to me: I'll take a loving wife and a secure family. I'll choose to build trust, love, happiness, and stability rather than deception, hurt, and loss. After eating from the Master's table, the ways of this world are not appetizing to me!

In Luke 15, the prodigal son had everything that he could ever desire at Daddy's table but the enticement and pull of "a far country" caused him to leave Daddy's house and go and waste his inheritance on sinful living. He tasted everything that this world had to offer and yet when he had eaten everything that sin had to offer, he realized that he was still hungry!

In the pig pen, he came to himself and realized that what I thought was great and alluring, has not satisfied my hunger! I'm still hungry! And he began to long for the food that he had once had in his Father's house! Sin may seem appealing and I know that the pull is fierce, but it will never really fill that craving of your spiritual man!

But when the prodigal son got back to Daddy's house! His Father was waiting on him! His daddy had a fatted calf that he had been feeding and fattening up just in case the son came home. That night the prodigal son sat down to a feast that was greater than he had ever experienced! His hunger was fulfilled!

You can get out of sin! There's a road that leads back to the Father's table! And if you will come you will find that He has a special meal prepared just for you called the Holy Ghost that will fulfill every longing and every spiritual desire that you have ever known!

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In the third year of His ministry, Jesus was trying to get away from the crowds so that He could teach His disciples and so He traveled out of the land of the Jews and into the surrounding Gentile areas. In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus and the twelve had traveled to the Greek inhabited area of Tyre and Sidon to be alone. But there was woman, a Syro-Phonecian woman (a Gentile) who had heard about Jesus and who had a daughter that was devil possessed.

Jesus tried to tell her that "I can't do a miracle for you now, because I've come to the Jewish people right now. I've come to the house of Israel. The Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, are going to have the opportunity to get salvation and the miracles and the blessings later."

But the Gentile woman would not be deterred. She was hungry and craving for God to heal her daughter!

Jesus called her a dog and yet she would not be deterred! She was so hungry for a change in her life that she didn't care what people thought. She didn't care what they said. She said "Lord I'm so hungry that I'll settle for even the crumbs of your table!"

It wasn't God's perfect time for the Gentiles to be touched, but this woman's hunger caused Jesus to step out of time for a few minutes and fast forward to Grace and reach out and heal the Gentile woman's daughter!

Now listen closely. My Bible prophesies of a time yet to come on this earth when Jesus Christ will rule for a 1,000 years. There will be no wars. There will be no sickness and no bloodshed. Sin will not run rampant as it does now. Everything will be as God designed it to be. The earth will be transformed into a perfect paradise. Heaven will have literally come to earth. And that is the dispensation of time that is yet to come, it will come when this time of Grace is over.

Now IF David's hunger moved God so much that He was willing to step out time a moment under law and allow him to eat of the precious bread of heaven. If the Gentile's hunger for God to move had such and effect on Jesus Christ that He was willing to break all the rules and step out of time and give the blessings of Grace which was yet to come to her. Then what does a great hunger for the things of God do now!? Everything may not be perfect in the world right now, but in a future time it will be. But there's something about great spiritual hunger that causes God to step out of time and bring a little of that heaven on earth to our lives now in Grace. When you hunger and thirst for God to move in your family, then it moves God to bring some of the peace from the future and place it in your life right now! Why wait for the blessings of God that will come one day in the future? You can move God to give you some of those blessing right now, but it takes being hungry!

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I Samuel begins by recording the story of Hannah. Hannah was married to a man who had two wives. To make matters worse, the other woman was very fruitful bearing many children and the Hannah was barren. Every year the entire family would travel to the temple and offer sacrifices and worship. Finally one year Hannah got desperate:

Hannah got desperate enough that she got hungry! Some people think that it's crazy that God commands and responds to fasting. Jesus taught His disciples to fast and that certain spiritual power was only given through prayer and fasting of food. Why would God only reserve certain anointing and gifts for those who are willing to fast and pray? Because God is moved by hunger!

Hannah was fasting and she was also spiritually hungry. It's not enough to fast physically if you are not spiritually hungry for more of God. But when you become spiritually hungry and you fast and pray, it will shake the portals of heaven!

Hannah got beside herself in her prayer. She prayed so much until she could not even speak anymore, and she was just mouthing the words. The priest came over and because of the desperation of her prayer and her hunger, he thought she was drunk. But she looked up at him and said "I'm not drunk, but I'm hungry for a child!" The priest, Eli, looked at her and God spoke through him and he said, you are going to have a child!

The prophet Samuel was born, and he became the greatest leader of Israel after Moses in that time. Samuel was faithful to the things of God all of his life and led Israel to a time of blessing under King David that they had never known. Why? Because a somebody got desperate and hungry for God to do the supernatural! Somebody got so hungry that they did not care what other people thought of them or of what remarks that they would make. She did not care that her enemy was watching. She said "I'm hungry for God to move," and she forever changed the course of her people and her family!

After she found out that she was going to have a baby, Hannah sang a song. In the song she makes this statement:

She was saying: "My spiritual hunger has been completely spiritually filled by God!" Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled!

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When David was hungered, He didn't run to the world for food, but ran to the temple and begged for the bread of God. When Hannah was hungry for a child, she ran to the altar and showed God her hunger. A hunger for the things of this world drove the prodigal son away from the Father's house, but when he realized that he was still hungry, that hunger drove him right back home. The Gentile woman ran to Jesus and didn't care what anybody said, because she was desperately hungry. The "Law of the Hungry" governs everything that you do. But you have a choice to make. Are you going to allow your spiritual hunger to drive you further and further into the trash heap of sin which will only temporarily satisfy your craving? Or will you run to Jesus and express your hunger for righteousness? No one has ever approached Jesus Christ hungry and left still lacking. On one occasion, Jesus fed 5,000 men and on the other occasion he fed 4,000 men not counting women and children. He was teaching us a principle: If you come to Jesus truly hungry, you will be filled! I can't answer for you, but I'm hungry for more of God today!