Being Full
Matthew 5:3–6
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."
In Lectures to My Students, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “When your own emptiness is painfully forced upon your consciousness, chide yourself that you ever dreamed of being full except in the Lord.” Each of us has a choice to seek fullness in the things of God or in the things of the world. When we settle for satisfaction in less than God has for us, we are doomed to failure and to disappointment.
The things of the world never truly satisfy. Jesus said, “Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger” (Luke 6:25). Not only do things of the world not satisfy, but they also leave no room for us to be filled with the Spirit of God. His presence is in our lives from the moment we are saved, but that does not mean that we are walking in the fullness of His power. God’s plan is for His Holy Spirit to not just influence, but to control, our lives, our thoughts, and our actions.
There is no way to receive the blessings of God in the measure He wants to give them apart from being filled with the Spirit. And there is no way to be filled with Him unless we are hungering and thirsting to be filled. What we want most is revealed in what we choose, rather than in what we say. The things for which we truly hunger are those we think about, talk about, and focus on. The world is filled with distractions and temptations, but if our appetites are focused on the right things, we will find our lives filled with the Spirit of God.
Growth Principle:
The more you are filled with the Spirit of God, the less of the world you will desire.