FILLED

J. Grant Swank, Jr.


"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6


The devil's cross carriers are forever hungry, never filled. Lust and more lust. Money and more money. Success and more success. Never getting enough.


Those who are yoked to Mentor Supplier Christ are always filled. That is, they are always filled as long as they continue to hunger and thirst. Once they stop hungrying and thirsting, satisfied with the crumbs of their own success and comfort, then they go empty again.


The believer's existence is always being maintained by always being in need. When believer concludes that he is all right, then believer begins not to be all right. It is the need for being filled that makes believer attentive to his hungering and thirsting. In that, he is totally dependent upon Mentor Supplier.


The snake's trick is to convince believer that once he eats the forbidden fruit he is his own supplier, his own god. Then it is that believer ceases to believe in Mentor Supplier and subtly begins to believe in self-supply. That is the start of doom, the beginning of damnation returned.


Carrying the daily cross is not easy, yet it is. It is a burden that is light because indwelling Christ carries the heavier end of the beam. However, though carrying the cross is in a sense easy in that it is light, it a journey which forever empties in order to be filled up again. And only Yoke-fellow can see through the success of that rhythm.


Therefore, cross carrier is always at the mercy of Yoke-fellow. And Yoke-fellow, being the source of love and kindness, is always ready to extend mercy. The crux comes in whether or not cross carrier is anxious enough to hunger and thirst for that mercy. When he is, he is filled. When he is not, then he languishes and starts to wilt on the way.


Hungering and thirsting then is to be utterly leaning upon Yoke-fellow for life source. When believer is so desperately and yet delightfully in need of all that Yoke-fellow has to offer, then believer is content, filled, sufficiently cared for.


It is always the aim of good God to fill up His own. Yet only their free will actions make this possible. Supplier can only fill when believer is aware of the source. It is a daily test. It is a daily test of will direction. Will the will direct toward self-sufficiency and so die or will the will direct word God-sufficiency alone and so live?


That is the rhythm of the cross journey. And only the cross carrier can will the journey an eternal success. It is always up to the frail, fragile mortal to make that awesome choice that spells doom or delight. Always.