What the Bible says about Craving, Control of
(From Forerunner Commentary)
God decides to give them exactly what they want. Remember this, those who crave something and pray to God for it—He may give it to us! Just because we appear to be blessed with it does not mean it is a blessing.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Passover and I Corinthians 10
The individual Jesus describes in this illustration had a hunger to gain the world and all it could give him. But because he would not control that hunger, he lost his eternal life. How tragic, especially since the rewards God offers far exceed what this world can offer!
A wrong hunger is a corrupt craving that cries out for satisfaction. Whether our hungers are physical (for food, alcohol, drugs, sex, wealth) or mental (for position, control, power, vengeance), we must overcome or control them. Otherwise, the fruit of illicit desires is always destructive. The Bible records the stories of many men who allowed their hungers to consume them. It also faithfully reports the unfortunate consequences.
We could name many examples of uncontrolled hungers that produced disaster in the lives in which they raged: David's hunger for Bathsheba, Joab's hunger for position, Gehazi's greed for Naaman's gifts, Jezebel's lust for power, Simon's unnatural desire for the Holy Spirit, and Judas' betrayal of Christ for thirty pieces of silver. All their hungers produced nothing but evil.
John O. Reid
Do You Have 'the Hunger'?Related Topics: Appetite, Control of | Bathsheba | Control of Appetite | Craving | Craving, Control of | Craving, Perverted | David and Bathsheba | Desire as a Bridgehead to Sin | Desire, Control of | Desire, Inordinate | Gehazi | Hunger | Jezebel | Lust