Hangry?

I don't know how long ago it was invented, but most people now know and probably have used the term "hangry." We came up with this word mash to describe the real possibility that when we are hungry (the "h" part of the word) we can get cranky (the "angry" part). We probably sometimes overuse the term to rationalize and excuse our behaviors, but the science bears it out as a real phenomenon. Fair enough.

Have you ever thought this way about the connection between your spiritual meals and your behavior? We have good reason to do so.

Jesus used physical meals to teach a spiritual truth. He certainly acknowledged our need for physical food - man does live by "bread," or natural food. That's why he pushed back against the Pharisees for letting his hungry disciples eat grain on the Sabbath (Mt 12:1-8). It's why on more than one occasion he worked a miraculous food distribution to thousands sitting under his teaching out in the wilderness (Mt 14:13-21; 15:35-39).

But Jesus took his own personal moment, when physical hunger was the strongest, to both resist the devil and teach us about a more important food. Matthew records (as do the other Synoptic Gospels) a spiritual showdown, where the Holy Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness and then the devil tempts Jesus with food after a 40 day fast. As I understand it, the 40 day mark is about the time when the human body's urge to eat is strongest and most desperate it will ever be. If you say no to food at that point, you risk losing your hunger stimulus forever. The devil challenges Jesus, "...tell these stones to become bread" (4:3). In his answer, Jesus does affirm his physical need, but he also shows its inferiority to a spiritual need. "Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (v.4).

The challenge was not over, but in phase one this truth is clear: our spiritual food is even more essential to life than our physical food.

If you enjoy food like I do, this truth can really pack a punch if we let it sink in.

Think of Moses on the mountain to receive God's law. Scripture records that Moses did not eat or drink water for 40 days while on the mountain (Ex 34:28; Dt 9:9). In fact, he did this TWICE, apparently back-to-back (vv.15-18)! How did he survive? The word of the LORD. He was in the presence of God, living by his word. Sounds like Jesus knew what he was talking about.

Now, this post isn't about fasting, and I'm not going to delve into the spiritual truths that lead to a flat belly. (The pants hanging in my closet remind me I have yet to fully appropriate those truths myself.)

My purpose here was rather to do what Jesus did, to elevate our thinking to the greater reality and importance of spiritual food. And I thought one practical question might be worth asking the next time you think (or someone has told you) you might be grumpy. But ask the question with a different kind of food in mind. Think back not to the last time you sat at the dinner table but rather the last time you sat with an open Bible (or Bible app). Then ask yourself:

Am I hangry?