Starving

Yesterday, after picking up my curbside order, I noticed an older man holding a cardboard sign that read “STARVING.” I pulled a hamburger out of my bag and held it out to him.

To my surprise, he shouted things I could not understand and stormed off, refusing the food. Danny and I just stood there, stunned. It dawned on us that maybe what he really wanted was not food at all, but money. Who knows what for.

Later, I could not stop thinking about it. How many people out there are starving, yet have no idea what they are actually starving for?

Maybe we are not so different. Sometimes we think we are hungry for one thing when our soul is actually starving for something else entirely. Some people ask for love, but when real love is offered, they turn it down because they would rather have something shallow. Others cry out for salvation, but when it is finally offered, they shrug and say it does not interest them, because earthly “happiness” tastes better in the moment.

It hurt to have a hamburger rejected, and then I remembered Jesus. How much greater is the pain when the gift of blood is turned away? Even so, His offer remains.

Even when we do not know what we are truly hungry for, Jesus does. He is the only One who can feed the soul and satisfy the hunger that nothing else can touch.