Going Hungry

By Matt

I read: Ecclesiastes 5

Although I've been horrible about dLogging, I've actually been very successful at reading on my own in the morning. It hasn't been much, usually two pages or a chapter, but I did zoom through Proverbs relatively quickly and, for lack of anywhere else to go, have gone to Ecclesiastes (I did Psalms before that so I'm just <3ing the books of wisdom lately).

Ecclesiastes is one of my favorites and one of the first whole books I read when I got my copy of The Message back in college. So looking at the underlines in it are taking a walk down memory lane to a me that's probably 4 or 5 years younger. So, although I read chapter 5, I couldn't help but notice the two tiny lines at the end of the page contained in chapter 6: "We work to feed our appetites; Meanwhile our souls go hungry."

Wow. I think it's funny that I underlined that back then because it's only recently I've taken that introspective turn to look at my needs and wants and trying to pare down the wants. Evidently it was, at least, a little bit on my mind back then. But now that I find it I'm amazed at the simplicity and profoundity of the statement. Solomon/Peterson nailed it succintly. Our culture is so driven by an appetite for celebrity, money, etc. that all you have to do is turn on the TV or pull up YouTube to witness the idiocy. Bridezilla. Who wants to be a bridezilla, someone who's basically, to put not to fine a point on it, a bitch? That's obviously not a positive thing. But there are countless women who encourage that notion about themselves by appearing on the show. It's one thing to be clueless and mean, it's another thing to be aware that you're being ridiculous and a jerk and want millions of people to see it.

But it's my own appetites that I feed while my soul gets passed over that I need to worry about. Money goes into eating out and WWII stuff and beer when it could and should be going to my tithe, to charities doing vital work. I still am so far from figuring out how to spend my money well that it's shocking I've made it this far! That we have so many sources for unfulfilling nourishment is only a small part of the problem. Far more culpable is me and my lack of self-control or awareness. I've been given the tools but I'm too lazy to use them.,

This is when scripture cuts like a scalpel (as it says in 2 Timothy). This isn't me hating myself, this is me glancing around the cave that is my life using the flashlight that the Word has handed me. I need work, but so does everyone else, and thank God that he's not done working on me yet :)