
Philippians Lesson 30 - Hunger
The apostle Paul had one all-consuming ambition and it wasn't to pay off a mortgage, earn a nice retirement, or start a private business. It was simply to know Christ. What is your ambition?
Dwight Pentecost, author and professor for many years, asked the question, “What makes some Christians spiritual giants and what makes others remain the same?” He responds, “Many would believe that it is the result of a spiritual inheritance or personality – they were just born more spiritually minded than others. Yet the scriptures tell us clearly that there is nothing in our nature or personality that makes someone apt to be more spiritual than another. Still others suggest that it has to do with the circumstances of one’s salvation – some have sensational conversion experiences that seem to lift them from the gutter to the heights more quickly. Yet again, the Bible tells us that all are equally sinful and each believer has been equally and miraculously brought from sin to new life; others would suggest that ministry or service for Christ is the ticket, but far too many illustrations in scripture and in the church have shown that serving God can often replace genuine spiritual growth instead of automatically promoting it. Then Pentecost writes, the key principle to growth can be reduced to one word – appetite. Appetite makes the difference between the immature and the mature, the infant and the adult.