Craving

For Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Proverbs 30:15-16

The leech has two daughters;
“Give” and “Give,” they cry.
Three things are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough”:
16 Sheol, the barren womb,
the land never satisfied with water,
and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

We are given vivid imagery of the spirit which is never satisfied. The impression being made is that such a spirit feels a true hunger that cannot be satiated, not so much out of greed but out of an inability to receive or maintain nourishment. This is made clear in the last three examples - the barren womb (that feels the emptiness of being able to bear a child), the barren land (which would be the common condition in the Middle-east), and fire (which ceases to exist the moment its fuel runs out). They crave to receive, like the leech and his family that must have "blood" to survive. And so Sheol is represented. No matter how many dead it receives, it has an unending appetite for more. Again, their problem is not being greedy, but being unable to benefit for long in what they receive.

Such a spirit is pitiable. He craves for fulfillment but cannot attain it. Like the Teacher of Ecclesiastes, he explores the different ways to find it - in work, in pleasure, in entertainment, in riches. He may seek it by exploring philosophies and religions. He may try to find it in noble and sacrificial work. And at times he seem fulfilled, but then the craving comes again, only stronger. "Give, give," he cries.

The saddest position is when he cannot profit even from hearing the gospel. His heart does not possess the proper soil, because in his pursuit to find fulfillment through other means, he has left his heart hardened and incapable of receiving the seed of the gospel. Like hardened barren land which cannot profit from the rain, so is his heart to the gospel.

Let us pray for our neighbors who are in such a state. Who crave for fulfillment and, yet, by the very means they seek to satisfy their cravings, they are hardening their hearts to make it all the more difficult to attain. Pray for them, that the Spirit will touch their spirits and satisfy them with the blessing of the gospel.