Week 4 - HUNGRY HEARTS - Part 3

What can we do to increase our hunger and thirst for righteousness? Here are seven things that will definitely help in our pursuit of holiness.

#1: BEWARE OF IDOLS

Idols certainly do not have to look like this golden calf from Bible history. Our idols today are seldom a stone sculpture with a ruby in its navel and six heads! Idols are ANYTHING that stands between us and God and keeps us from following Him fully. They can be television sets, cars, houses, careers, family, friends, a hope, a dream or an ambition. When you love and serve something more than you love and serve God, it is an idol.

Ezekiel 14:3 "Son of man, these men have set up their idols IN THEIR HEARTS, and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity."

#2: TURN YOUR EYES FROM THE WORLD

Don't you love pretty things? I sure do. I guess most women do. The things of this world can be very attractive to our eyes and appealing to our flesh. If we are going to increase our hunger and thirst for righteousness, we must be careful what we allow before our eyes; for what our eyes feast upon will open the way to temptation in our hearts.

Perhaps, as adults, we need to keep singing the song we learned as a little child: Be careful little eyes what you see; Be careful little eyes what you see; For the Father up above is looking down in love, So be careful little eyes what you see.

Psalm 119:37-38 "Turn my eyes away from looking at vanity, And revive me in Thy ways. Establish Thy word to Thy servant, As that which produces reverence for Thee."

#3: COUNT ALL BUT JESUS AS LOSS

Can I give you an assignment? Turn to Philippians 3:7-10 in your Bible. Mark every time the pronoun "I" is used. Then turn the passage into your personal prayer.

#4: PURSUE ONE GOAL

Read the familiar story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. Notice that the very thing Martha was doing FOR the Lord drew her AWAY from Him! That's what "distracted" means. We can become so busy in the work of the Lord that we actually diminish our hunger and thirst for righteousness. DOING is secondary in the Christian life. BEING is the primary thing!

#5: WATCH THE COMPANY YOU KEEP

I'll never forget the time someone phoned me and asked "Where is that scripture that says if you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas?" Of course, that's not actually a scripture but it's certainly a paraphrase of what 1 Cor. 15:33 says: "... bad company corrupts good morals." Do you have friends that distract you or pull you away from your pursuit of holiness? If you do, it's time for some new friends!

#6: KEEP COMING TO CHRIST

Jesus is the fountainhead of all righteousness. He is the Bread of Life. He is the Living Water. Keep coming to Him.

#7: RECEIVE WHAT HE GIVES YOU

If you want to increase your hunger and thirst for righteousness, OPEN YOUR HANDS! OPEN YOUR HEART! Receive all that God has for you! Psalm 81:10 "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it."