Appetite

ap·pe·tite

A natural desire to satisfy a bodily need, especially for food.

Synonyms: hunger, ravenousness, hungriness, need for food; taste, palate; desire, relish; voracity, greed, gluttony, stomach.

   A strong desire or liking for something.

Synonyms: craving, longing, yearning, hankering, hunger, thirst, passion, relish, lust, love, zest, gusto, avidity, ardor.

 

Questions: (Scriptures from the New American Standard Bible)

How can a person’s appetite be a negative attribute?

Numbers 11:4-6 “...The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna..."

Proverbs 23:1-3 “...When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you, And put a knife to your throat If you are a man of great appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food....”

Habakkuk 2:5 "...Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man, So that he does not stay at home. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, And he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations And collects to himself all peoples...”

Philippians 3:17-19 “...Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things...”

How can a person’s appetite be a positive attribute?

Proverbs 16:26 “...A worker's appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on...”

What we love is what we pursue. What determines whether or not our pursuit will lead to satisfaction?

Ecclesiastes 5:10 “...He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity...”

Ecclesiastes 6:7 “...All a man's labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied...”

Ezekiel 7:19 “...They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling...”

Micah 6:14 "...You will eat, but you will not be satisfied, And your vileness will be in your midst. You will try to remove for safekeeping, But you will not preserve anything, And what you do preserve I will give to the sword...”

Haggai 1:6 "...You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes..."

Proverbs 13:25 “...The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, But the stomach of the wicked is in need...”

Philippians 4:11-13 “...Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me...”

Hebrews 13:5 “...Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,..."

What or whom do we love and therefore pursue?

Luke 10:27 “...And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF..."