Cultivate an Appetite

I remember the first time I ate broccoli; I didn’t like it. But as I tried it again, prepared in a different manner, I have grown to enjoy broccoli. It is the same as we cultivate our appetite for God. We may have been served information about God that is not true. We may have had a bad experience with God’s name on it, when the fact is, He was there with loving arms.

Reading and studying God’s holy word, talking to Him and listening to His answer are ways we can cultivate and enjoy the God of the universe. When we accept His word as truth and obey it, He showers us with forgiveness of our sins, total joy and peace, even in our circumstances.

When we receive Jesus as our Savior by faith and follow Him, what does Philippians mean to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling?” Once we are followers of Jesus, we do not continue to live the lifestyle that we have always lived. He wants us to work to have a close relationship with Him; as we work towards any other relationship. He wants us to talk to Him in prayer, listen to Him through His Holy Spirit and His word, and live a life through His power that expresses His attributes.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift from God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8,9  NKJV

Once we receive the gift of God, we must work or cultivate the relationship.