What do you crave?

Recently, I’ve been craving Skyline chili.  When my wife was pregnant, she craved KFC mashed potatoes.  For a while, I was craving Wendy’s bacon-blue burgers.  And I always, always crave Mountain Dew!  White Castle even got creative enough to make a “crave case” which holds 30 sliders…perfect to satisfy a craving for sliders.

The definition of crave is “to want deeply”.  1 John lists two things we crave: physical pleasure and “everything we see”.  Two things: pleasure and stuff.

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. – 1 John 2:15-17 (NLT)

Oh, how true this is of me.  I want more food, more sleep, more gadgets, more _____ (fill in the blank).  I crave things that are self-centered…things that make me feel better temporarily…things that are fun for me.

But Scripture is clear that such cravings are from the world, not from God.  Such cravings, in fact, draw us away from God and toward the world.  But it is not wrong to having cravings…we just need to crave the right things for the right reasons:

Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. 1 Peter 2:2-3 (NLT)

Let me suggest three action steps on this one:

1. Ask God to reveal to you what you crave besides Him. 
2. Ask Him to replace that craving with a craving for pure spiritual milk (cry out for nourishment). 
3. Commit to a time of fasting from whatever it is you crave.  The point of fasting is to draw nearer to God, helping to “grow into a full experience of salvation”.  When the craving hits, use that time to pray for guidance and strength and a craving for Him.

I’ve done the first two of these already, and am starting a fast from what I crave most even as we speak. 

May God richly bless you as you seek to crave Him!

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