Jesus Satisfies the Hungry Souls

Mr Hungry Story

There is this interesting story. Someone by the name Mr Hungry. He got hungry very fast.

One day Mr Hungry was eating noodles in the restaurant. After finishing one bowl of noodles, he was still hungry, so he took the second bowl, then the third, fourth, the sixth…but after the nineth bowl, he was still hungry.

So he started the tenth bowl. Before he finished eating the tenth bowl, he suddenly felt his stomach overflowing. He couldn’t eat anymore, so he stopped and murmured, “By right I should have ordered this tenth bowl of noodles first. That would be enough to get full, then I don’t need to waste money buying the first ninth bowl of noodles.”

Mr Hungry is very silly to reason this way. But this story tells us some truths. First, no matter how many things we possessed, we would get hungry again very fast. Nothing seems to satisfy us permanently. Second, if there really were something, like the tenth bowl that could satisfy us permanently, we should go for it!

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

Jesus lived two thousand years ago in today’s Israel. One day, Jesus met a woman in Samaria. She came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Will you give me some water to drink?”

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for water?”

Jesus answered her, “If you knew me, you would have asked me to give you the living water. Everyone who drinks this water from the well will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This Samaritan woman said, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Unexpectedly, Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.”

Jesus mentioned about the woman’s husband in order to let her know that all this while, she had been looking for satisfaction and happiness from a man, and this was wrong. This had caused her to suffer abandonment from men and even lived in sin.

The woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet …. I know that Christ is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Jesus told the woman confidently, “I, the one speaking to you, I am the Christ that you speak of.”

The woman immediately took a fresh step of faith, dropped her water jar and ran back into town. In the past, she hid from everyone else, but now she became a witness for Jesus, telling the people in town about Jesus working in her life.

Her life was turned around after her meeting with Jesus!

Only Jesus Can Satisfy

Today, like the Samaritan woman, people use many “good external things” to satisfy the inner emptiness and desires of their hearts. These external things could be love, career success, power, fame, status, wealth and so on.

People think, “As long as I work hard, one day I will achieve all these “good things”, then I will be happy and satisfied.”

By this, people have made all these things their “idols” in life—the uttermost important things in life.

As a result, when we face obstacles in our pursuit of these things, we will be frustrated or even angry. If we fail, we would be depressed, maybe not even able to forgive ourselves. If we succeed, we would find that the happiness and satisfaction that success bring are but temporary. We are not really happy and satisfied, and maybe we would feel even more empty.

“Idols” cannot give us true and permanent satisfaction. It is because “idols” are not real nor living gods. Idols do not die for sinners; idols do not redeem mankind. But Jesus is the true and living God. He died on the cross for our sins. His death redeemed mankind. Only he is able to save.

Idols disappoint; Jesus satisfies the hunger of our lives. If we have Jesus, we will also have satisfaction and happiness. If we fail and sin against God some way or other, God will still forgive our sins.

Once we accept Jesus as saviour, he will give us the living water which is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will then work in our lives, transforming and renewing us in order that we may obtain satisfaction and happiness in our lives. This is the everlasting life that Jesus promised us.

Personal Testimony

I wish to recount my life experiences to testify that Jesus’ grace is sufficient for us to live a satisfied and meaningful life.

My childhood was spent in a Chinese squatter, where the condition was worse than a Chinese village. We were poor with many siblings. We could not afford kindergarten, and many kids dropped out from school somewhere at the lower secondary level.

So I was a loser from the starting point. But God had a plan to save me before I even knew him.

Someone brought me to church when I was in Standard Six. In church I was exposed to many good youth activities. There I learnt to speak and write better in Chinese and English. I learnt music. I associated with friends who were serious in study. I managed to finish form five.

I accepted Jesus as my saviour and was baptised at 15 years old. Having Jesus in my life does not mean life will be smooth and steady.

I went to work after form five because I needed money to support myself. I did self-study for STPM while working in a bank. After STPM, I received an offer to enter a local university but I rejected, because I could not afford to study full time. I needed to work for money in order to survive.

Later I moved over to work in the medical sales line. My highest positions were bank officer and sales manager, but I felt strongly that God had more things for me. As Christians we also do not know for sure what will happen tomorrow. But we trust God will take care of us. We always can find rest and security in God.

When I was 32 years old, I applied for university. I was ready to leave my career for further study. I was using my very old STPM results of 15 years ago to apply.

This time, to my surprise, I received an offer from NUS, not from our local university. But how to finance the study? If no finance, I can’t go. So I prayed to God, “If you want me to go then you prepare the money for me.”

Then I was told NUS arranged for all students’ study loan and living allowance. So, my money matter was solved.  I studied economics and philosophy for 3 years, then I continued for another 2 years to do master degree on a part time basis.

So today, I am standing here, by God’s grace, able to speak English and Chinese, blessed with a family of two sons. I got to know that many of my childhood friends, became drug addicts and pimps when they were young.

Dear friends, my life is not really very spectacular but rather an ordinary one like most of you. I have gone through good times and bad times, encountered many challenges, but I have Jesus, so I need not worry.

Jesus is a “rich father’ in heaven with abundant grace. With Jesus as my saviour, I can trust him to take care of my needs and give me the direction in life. Jesus works in my life, and he also can work the same way in your life.

Then when I was 45 years old, I again felt the urge from God to leave my job. I realized that the church had helped me so much, and so it was time for me to make my contribution to the church.

So I resigned from work and entered seminary to study full time for 3 years. After that I took up the position of a pastor. Again, I did not know what would happen when I left my comfort zone to take up the new challenge, but I surrendered my life to God.

Whatever may have happened, lose or gain, I will still be glad for I have Jesus. I know he will take care of me. With him in my life, and me doing the things he wants me to do, I find great satisfaction from inside me, and I find my purpose in life.

And friends, today Jesus also wants to give you the satisfaction of life no one else could give. He can forgive all your sins and lead you through a life of satisfaction and rest.  All you need to do is just trust in him, and receive him as your saviour and Lord.

Altar Call – A Rich Merchant with Four Wives

There was a rich merchant who had four wives. He loved the fourth wife the most, adorning her with rich robes and treating her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

The merchant also loved the third wife very much. He was very proud of her and always wanted to show her off to his friends. However, the merchant lived in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He, too, loved his second wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and, in fact, is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his second wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant's first wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have four wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be.”

Thus, he asked the fourth wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"No way!" replied the fourth wife and she walked away without another word. The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart.

The sad merchant then asked the third wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"No!" replied the third wife." Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!"

The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the second wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the second wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave."

The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go."

The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!"

Like the rich merchant, we all have four wives. Here’s what that means.

The fourth wife represents our body. We spend lots of time tending to our body — washing it, dressing it, nourishing it with food. But no matter how well we care for it, our body will eventually fail us and be left behind upon death. God designed our earthly bodies to be temporary.

The third wife is our “stuff” — possessions, wealth, status. Without a true relationship with Christ, many people get caught up chasing material things. Life becomes about impressing other people. Yet, these things can vanish at any moment, and certainly don’t do us any good when our lives come to an end.

The second wife is our earthly relationships — friends, family, spouses. No matter how deep and how strong our relationships grow here on earth, they can only stand by us up to the grave. It’s our relationship with the Almighty that secures any hope after death.

The first wife is our soul. It’s the only thing we can take with us after death. To keep our soul healthy, we must be in a relationship with our Lord and Saviour, Christ. And yet, too often our spiritual life gets neglected as we pursue other things — money, love, careers. Just like the rich merchant in the parable, our priorities get flipped.

Thankfully, it’s never too late to turn to God! Jesus promised to give true happiness and satisfaction that comes from inside us, our soul, if we receive him into our hearts and let Him be the lord of our lives.

Why not now, we make a decision to go for this “tenth bowl” – Jesus, for only he can truly satisfy us.  Let us pray.