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My daughter and her husband had taken me out for a big lunch, so by dinnertime, all I wanted was a sandwich. Two slices of bread were left in the bag—just enough for one sandwich. And then there was a thin, leftover heel.
That leftover heel was just the thing to tear into small chunks as a treat for our dog. I wish I had her reflexes; if you throw a small piece of bread into the air, she can invariably catch it before it reaches the floor. After throwing her a few pieces, I grew tired of this game, so I tossed the remainder of the heel of bread onto the middle of the table. Our dog could not see where it landed, but her nose certainly told her. She put her front feet on a chair and sniffed the edge of the table, letting out her most demanding whimper. She had to have more little pieces thrown to her until I finally turned off the lights and left the room.
Our dog’s persistence is admirable! Perhaps if we were as determined as she is, we would receive more from the Lord. God does not expect nor want us to beg. However, He does want us to ask, and His Word indicates that at times we may need to importune. If we give up too easily and are distracted by other things, we may not receive the blessing.
The next morning, I served our little dog her normal breakfast, and she gobbled it down quickly. Then she started to bark. Did she want to be let outside so she could chase birds? I opened the door, but she refused to leave the warm house. What she really wanted was more of the now-dried-out crust of bread. She had not forgotten where it was, and again climbed up on her back legs and sniffed it.
The Lord does not provide us with anything stale or leftover, but with the “finest of the wheat.” But are we as eager for what God offers as my dog was for that dry crust of bread? We want to have an appetite for the things of God. If we spend time with Him each day and ask to be spiritually hungry, He will help us desire to read His Word and pray. We will find that time with the Lord will give us rich spiritual nourishment.
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