The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-04-22
TheHungryHeart
Lesson for April "a, 1860

normal. A heart that feels the
need of nothing. a mind that has
not enough imagination to per-
ceive its own holloWness, not
sensitivity to detect its
own emptiness, is a human heart
that is less than human. It has
sunk to the level of the brute. No
pig, no cOW--or for that matter,
70 humming-bird - feels any
longing for anything except food
and an occasional mate. This is
not heart-hunger at all, it is what
all beasts and even many plants
They Shall Not Be Filled
The heart Of man, by the Gre
ator's design, is made for deeper
and more difficult hungers than
food and sex can supply. Some Of
these are Unsuitable. Let the
heart hold all that it can, it is
still never enough. The hunger
for recognition, for attention, for
fame when does it say,
Enough? The actor never finds
the applause loud enough, the
critics never rave enough, there
never are enough newspaper
one Oscar calls for more
I. The hunger for power knows
no limits. The old story of the
fisherman's wife who first began
by wanting cottage and finally
ended by wanting to be God, is
a parable of the human heart
that never cries. Enough! The
hunger for power is never salts
fled till above ones head one
sees no greater Power - never
till beneath ones feet one sees
every living thing and that
time never comes. The heart
hungry for power shall never be
filled.
An Appetite for Righteousness
So some hungers of the heart
make for unhappiness. One al
most envies the contented cattle
or the silent stones. They may
not be happy but they are not
unhappy, they have no heart at
all. No, this is wrong envy. The
way to happiness is not to live
without a heart. The way to
happiness is one which Jesus has
shown us. Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for right
eousness, for they shall be
filled Desire to have brings
Illustration; desire to be brings
fulfillment.
Yet this can be misunderstood
The men whom Jesus most often
condemned, the Pharisees. de-
sired righteousness. But the trou-
Bile with them was that the right
eousness they sought set them
apart from their fellowmen. It
led them to pray, Il thank thee
that | am not as other men," 1t
is no accident that next to the
blessing on those who hunger for
righteousness, comes the bless
ing on the merciful. The heart
that hungers for goodness in the
manner of the Pharisees merely
wants to be good. The kind of
goodness Jesus meant W. since
ne practiced it in his life = was
the kind that is good to others.
The P h ar sees righteous
ness Shut mercy out; Jesus
righteousness began with mercy
and compassion.
They Shall Be Filled
A hungry man does not need
to be told he is empty, he knows
1t. it is a painful fact. Hungering
for righteousness begins with a
feeling Of emptiness. A person at
deaths edge FRI m starvation
may refuse the food that would
save him. So those who are
empty of goodness and even
spiritually starved for the lack OF
it, may not hunger for what they
most need.
Why do you want to be good
There are poor reasons and bet
ter ones. Do you want it for the
sake of a better reputation? Dc
you want it SO as to have some
thing to be proud of? Or do you
hunger for goodness in order to
be of more help to others along
LIES way? Do you desire it as
a ladder for linn bling into
heaven, or as a loaf to share
with those in need? There was
a man who did not know how tc
swim. He always rather wished
he could, especially when he saw
other people i'm ming. He
wanted to do what they could
But then one day he saw a tired
out injured swimmer at the polnt
Of drowning. before his eyes
Then he really hUngcred to know
how TO swim. And then he begar
to learn. Those who hunger anc
thirst to be the kind of person
Jesus was, shall be filled.
BASED on outlines copyrighted
by the Division of Christian Edu
cation, National Council of tn,
Churches Of Christ in the U.S.A
Released by Community Pres.
Service.)
THAT KIND