DAY 2 – You Bring the Hunger

Yesterday, we read about the Day of Pentecost and God’s wonderful promise of the Holy Spirit. It is clear that God desires to baptise us with fire (Matt 3:11)— empowering us with His supernatural ability, efficiency and might—but we also have a part to play in this equation. We need to bring our hunger which is the fuel that feeds the fire and keeps it burning strong.

Acts 1 describes the behaviour of the disciples after Jesus had instructed them to wait for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem before He ascended to Heaven. In obedience, Peter and the disciples devoted themselves to prayer in an Upper Room (Acts 1:14). It must have been an exciting, tumultuous and confusing time all at once. Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, and had ascended to Heaven all in the space of forty days!

It would have been easy to allow doubt to creep in. I can imagine some of the thoughts they might have grappled with:

“Was it really Jesus and not some apparition that appeared to us a few days ago?”

“Even if it was, now that He’s gone back to Heaven, what does that mean for us?”

“What or who is the Holy Spirit and how will we know when He comes?”

“We were told to wait, but for how long?”

However, instead of being swayed by doubt and discouragement, the disciples decided to stay put and pray. They chose to take Jesus at His Word and seek first the Kingdom of God. Their hunger led them to be exactly where they needed to be when the Holy Spirit was poured out and it became the fuel for the fire of God that has continued to burn in the Church ever since!

God wants to set you ablaze for His Kingdom, but you need to bring your hunger.

What are some things that hinder you from seeking the Kingdom of God FIRST? Maybe they are worldly distractions, attachments to comfort, addictions to entertainment or all of the above. Maybe they are even good things like relationships, sport or hobbies. Whatever they are, decide today to put them in their rightful place—in submission to our glorious King and His great Kingdom.