6 Guidelines to Nurture Godly Cravings in Our Lives

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

After receiving Christ, we become a new creation. We, therefore, need to abandon our old ways and embrace a new lifestyle. Paul warned the Ephesian church not to walk like the Gentiles, in the futility of their minds, having their understanding darkened and being alienated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:17-18). Believers have to do an overhaul of the things they focus their minds on.  

Paul asks us to renew our minds to avoid being conformed to the world. This means we must change the stuff we expose our minds to. We have to seek those things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. We have to "set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2). By constantly renewing our minds through seeking and focusing on the things above, our spiritual appetite morphs from an earthly one to a God-pleasing one. 

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“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” - Revelation 2: 4-5

The church at Ephesus was commended for its doctrinal integrity and perseverance in the face of adversity. They, however, had one major undoing. They had forsaken their first love for God. Like this church, many start our Christian walk when it is blazing hot. We want nothing to do with our former ways and are zealous in seeking God. Like newborn babes, we eagerly desire the pure milk of the Word and cannot fathom spending a day without devouring the scriptures. We also spend hours communing with God in prayer. We do not skimp on fellowshipping with other believers. Our appetite for godly things is in check, soaring through the roof.

But along the way, we become familiar with the ways of God and let our guard down. Our zeal in seeking and pleasing Him fizzles out. We stop being earnest in doing the things that drew us close to God. As we lose our first love, our spiritual appetite also changes, and we are no longer eagerly craving godly things. God is constantly calling us to go back to our first love. As we do, our spiritual tastebuds will be realigned. 

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“ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” -1 John 2:17

This world is temporary. One day, Christ will return for His bride. Those who died in Him will rise first. Those still alive and with their garments clean will be caught up together in the clouds and meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). The world and everything in it will pass away. 

This means that the things that distract us from seeking God will grind to a halt. Paul counted earthly things as rubbish for the excellence of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8). He was willing to lose all for Christ. Gripped by this reality, King Solomon, the wisest man ever lived, sought to find out what profit a man derived from all his labor in which he toiled under the sun. 

He observed that it was indeed vanity of vanities, a chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1). Little wonder Paul instructs us to live circumspectly, not as unwise but wise (Ephesians 5:15). Since the world is just a temporary facet of our lives, why should we allow ourselves to be derailed from eternal things? 

We are not to lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. We are to lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and thieves do not break in and steal (Mathew 6:19-20). When we adopt an eternity perspective, we quickly recoup our appetite for godly things. 

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“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. You should lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” - Mathew 5:29 

The things we seek after, which have mangled up our appetite for the things of God, are distractions. You know that which distracts you from reading the word, praying, and fellowshipping with other believers. In Mathew chapter 6, Jesus warned against believers obsessing over the things that the Gentiles seek. He gave an example of food, drink, and clothes. And while it's essential to ensure that all these are in place, they should not deflect our appetite for the things of God. 

Another notorious distraction these days is the allure of social media. Many believers spend hours on end scrolling through their socials, squandering time that they could be fellowshiping with God. We are in a race and must make it to the finish line by hook or crook. Therefore, we are to lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us (Hebrews 12:1). Jesus suggested a rigorous approach towards distractions. He said that if your eye causes you to sin, you should gouge it out, and if your hand causes us to sin, you should cut it off. That's the seriousness with which God wants us to obliterate our distractions, thereby realigning our spiritual appetite.  

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“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” -Luke 5:16

Though Jesus was one with God, he often withdrew from the crowds and his disciples to pray. He needed intimate moments of fellowship with the father. He also needed to be empowered for the rigorous ministry ahead of him. Alone in the wilderness, he enjoyed blissful, uninterrupted moments with the father. 

Believers, too, should seek uninterrupted moments with God. We live in a noisy world peppered with distractions left, right and center. Retreating to be alone with God helps us to seek Him wholeheartedly. God promised Israel that they would seek Him and find Him when they searched for Him with all their heart (Jeremiah 29:13). We need to have moments where we accelerate our zeal in seeking God, and retreating in prayer and fasting is an invaluable way to go about it. As we do this, our spiritual appetite gets realigned.

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“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” - Psalm 90:14

How we start our day as believers matters. If we kick off the day in prayer, reading, and meditating on God's word, we position ourselves for a successful day. We set the pace for the rest of the day, tethering ourselves to the narrow path. Our spiritual hunger also gets satiated bright and early. Jesus commanded us to seek His kingdom first and its righteousness(Mathew 6:33). Seeking Him first every day before we attend to life's demands helps us guard our spiritual appetite. 

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