Jesus Life Hacks // Crave Matthew 5:6
What do you crave?
Ask anyone what foods they crave, and most people will be able to reel off at least a couple of items without hesitation.
Top 5 most craved food:
Potato chips
French fries
Chocolate
Ice cream
Chocolate chip cookies
Hunger and thirst are frequent human urges. It’s immensely satisfying to eat a meal when starving or to drink of water when parched.
Doctors say the areas of the brain responsible for memory and sensing pleasure are partially to blame for keeping those food cravings coming.
Three regions of the brain -- the hippocampus, insula, and caudate - appear to be activated during food-craving episodes, according to new research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center.
Their brain tests suggest that memory areas of the brain (which are responsible for associating a specific food with a reward) are actually more important to food cravings than the brain's reward center.
Research found"Food cravings arise to satisfy emotional needs, such as calming stress and reducing anxiety," says Drewnowski
For many of us, cravings kick into high gear when we're stressed or anxious. Cravings are a window to your inner landscape.
What you crave can tell you what your struggle is.
Baked sweets (donuts, cake, brownies and cookies) maintainer, consistent, by the rules = seeking joy
Spicy - face paced, adventurous, on the go = looking for new or a change
Salty - high strung, detailed = seeking peace and relaxation
Caffeine - center of attention, action, don’t want to miss out = seeking rest
Crunchy - edgy, stressed, frustrated = seeking appreciation and recognition
Chocolate - loving, caring = seeking love and attention
Starchy - isolated, discouraged = seeking comfort and support
Ice cream - hurt or disappointed, missing things = seeking freedom and happiness
Cheese - lost, directionless = seeking nurturing and connection
Jesus uses a metaphor of hunger and thirst to depict our pursuit of righteousness.
Matthew 5:6 NIV “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
“Hunger and thirst” is a metaphor that doesn’t resonate today as it did in Jesus’ day, when food and water were scarce and people were often hungry and thirsty. In our culture, food and water are plentiful, so we miss the urgency Jesus intended. '
Hungry, thirsty people work hard, urgently, to gain food. In our culture most of us have plenty of food. Anytime we want water, we just turn a faucet, and we often let it run down the drain.
But Jesus’ audience was familiar with hunger and thirst. They knew what it was like to crave food and water. Think of how good it feels after you have eaten a full meal. Jesus connects our stomachs with his position in our lives.
To hunger and thirst for righteousness is a pursuit of God’s full authority in our lives.
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who long for God’s will and God’s ways. This is not a pick and choose - follow the rules based relationship but a whole life surrender and commitment to follow and obey Gods will and ways.
Matthew 6:33 NIV “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Jesus is addressing what we pursue. What we pursue will determine whether we are satisfied or not.
Jesus promises that Those who were starving for righteousness will not just get a taste. They will be filled. Notice that you do not fill yourself, but you will be filled. We tend to fulfill our cravings through relationship, works, drugs and alcohol, work promotions and money, on and on. Remember once again, righteousness is not something we achieve on your own; righteousness is a gift from God.
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!… Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” (Isaiah 55:1-2)
Psalm 107:9 says of God: “He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
Do you long for God’s will and God’s ways in your life?