03-18-24-ENG.

“Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.”

Isaiah 55:2

The spiritual life demands righteousness in order to function as it was designed to function. Your physical being has a design, which includes needing food. Your spiritual being has a design that includes needing righteousness. The Bible calls the spiritual being the “divine nature.” Righteousness is the nutrients God provides for your divine nature. Righteousness isn’t just an ethereal term referring to some intangible halo hovering over certain people. Righteousness is very real. It involves making choices on a regular basis that promote your living in accordance with God’s will. It can be described as “right living.” It includes identifying God’s will on a matter and seeking to line up your life in accordance with it. To put it simply, it means aligning according to God’s kingdom rule.

The problems come when people search after illegitimate food to feed a legitimate spiritual need for righteousness. This search can include many different things. It can include seeking after self-help gurus, or any number of things. While these are not bad in and of themselves, if they are sought after to a degree as to replace the righteousness of God in your life, that is when they become bad. Enjoying cake is one thing. Seeking to satisfy the needs of the body with cake is another. Most of us understand that. But when it comes to spiritual nourishment, that truth gets lost. Far too many believers today seek for that which “is not bread,” and they waste their money on that which “does not satisfy.” Only a deceived person would believe that eating cake every day as your only source of food would address what the body is calling for. 

Likewise, only a deceived person would believe that spiritual nourishment is sustained by listening to a sermon once a week, or reading a few verses of the Bible, or saying a prayer before they eat. Cake is fundamentally empty calories. While it may give you a semblance of satisfaction for an immediate period of time, it will not provide lasting nutrition. Cake is not designed to feed the cellular structure of the human body. It may be enjoyable, but it does not satisfy long-term. It does not have staying power. In fact, a lot of people will become even more hungry after eating cake because the sugar and carbs stimulate the brain to crave more food. Thus, it starts a cycle of feeding that is sometimes difficult to stop. When you and I try to nourish our divine nature with that which is not bread and that which does not satisfy, we wind up starving to spiritual death, all the while craving more of the world’s ways. 

Satan is very clever on how he seeks to deceive believers into thinking they are truly consuming spiritual food and righteousness. The Bible says one way he does this is through spiritual teachers who only deliver messages that aim to “tickle the ears” of the hearers (see 2 Timothy 4:3). But tickling your ears spiritually does not translate into hungering and thirsting after righteousness. That translates more into entertainment. Satan doesn’t mind if religious sayings or speakers entertain you at all. The reason is because he knows there is no power in religious entertainment. The power comes through tapping in to spiritual authority, which can only be done by aligning your heart, thoughts, words, and actions under the truth of God’s Word. That is what it means to hunger after righteousness. It is to feed on that which is true and apply it to your life on a regular basis. 

Reaction:
Why doesn’t simply listening to a fun, entertaining sermon equip you as a believer to stand against Satan’s schemes? What are some elements of righteous living that do not often show up in messages or books merely meant to “tickle the ears”? Name one way you can encourage others to pursue righteousness consistently in their lives. 

Prayer: 
Jesus, I want to honor You by encouraging others to live righteous lives. Show me how to do that in a way that is winsome and impactful to them. Open the doors for me to be a greater example of someone who seeks after righteousness and lives in a right relationship with You. I pray this in Your name, amen.