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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Dear Rev. Graham: What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? — H.T.

Dear H.T.: Hunger, in the physical sense, is a sign of life. Dead men need no food; they crave no water. Humans must have nourishment or they’ll starve. The Bible teaches that the soul must feed on the things of God otherwise one’s heart can become hardened. This is what happened to Pharaoh long ago. He refused to listen to God’s Word; he was hard-hearted; stubborn.
Starving the soul is one of the most dangerous processes that can take place in a person’s life. It is possible through sin to harden our hearts against God so long that we lose all desire for God. The Bible says that God’s Spirit “shall not strive with man forever” (Genesis 6:3).
Scripture speaks about hardening the heart: “For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed” (Acts 28:27). When people continually reject Christ as Savior, God says that He gives “them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels” (Psalm 81:12).
Hungering and thirsting for God and His righteousness makes the soul receptive to the voice and message of Christ. Those who have no cravings for God, no longings for Christ, and no thirst for the things of the Spirit are not only dead in trespasses and sin, but also insensitive to the Spirit’s promptings. They are like the dead and are in danger of remaining in a state of spiritual stupor that will lead eventually to eternal death.
We must ask God to give us a deeper hunger for Himself and a deeper desire for His fellowship.
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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)