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John Wesley
John Wesley (1703 - 1791). English Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and co-founder of Methodism, born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, to a rector’s family. Educated at Oxford, where he earned an M.A. in 1727, he was ordained in 1728 and led the Holy Club with brother Charles, emphasizing disciplined faith. After a failed mission to Georgia (1735-1737), he experienced a transformative conversion in 1738 at Aldersgate, London, feeling his “heart strangely warmed.” Wesley preached over 40,000 sermons, often outdoors, sparking the 18th-century Evangelical Revival, and traveled 250,000 miles on horseback across Britain and Ireland. He authored 400 works, including A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777), and edited The Christian’s Pattern. Founding Methodist societies, he trained 650 preachers and ordained ministers for America, influencing millions. Married to Mary Vazeille in 1751, their childless union strained, but his brother’s hymns enriched worship. A tireless advocate for the poor, he opened dispensaries and schools, and his 1787 sermon against slavery stirred abolitionism. Despite tensions with the Church of England, he never left it, shaping global Protestantism. His maxim, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” inspired generations to active faith. Wesley’s journals and letters, still widely read, reveal a legacy of practical holiness and social reform
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John Wesley emphasizes the importance of recognizing our hunger for satisfaction and contentment in life, suggesting that true fulfillment comes from seeking righteousness. He points out that many people feel overwhelmed by life's demands, often postponing their satisfaction for a future time. However, Wesley assures that Jesus promises satisfaction to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, encouraging believers to let their spiritual appetite drive them towards God's Kingdom. He reminds us that our appetite can work for us if we focus on the right desires, leading to true contentment.
Are You Hungry?
The laborer’s appetite works for him, His hunger drives him on. Proverbs 16:26 You may be reading this devotion at the start of your day or you might be reading it before you go to sleep; perhaps you are reading it during your lunch break or perhaps you're working through it at the dinner table with friends or family. Wherever you are right now and whatever you are doing, would you describe yourself as satisfied? “Satisfied” probably means different things to different people, but at its core it should include an element of contentment. Sometimes when I ask people if they are satisfied or content they look at me as if I am mad. Between trying to hold down a job, maintain a home, perhaps keeping a spouse happy, trying their best to bring up their children properly, trying to arrange lifts to and from sporting and other activities, shopping, maintaining a social life, and then perhaps on top of all of these things attempting to be committed to regular worship and involved in the life of the church, the general feeling is that being satisfied or content is a luxury that will have to wait ‘until I get on top of things, get a promotion, I go on long leave, the children leave home, and I retire!’ Perhaps you are breathless from just reading the last paragraph and any feeling of satisfaction or contentment that was trying to take hold in your life has departed. It needn't be so. That's right, it needn't be so! You can be satisfied. There is absolutely no need for anyone on this planet to have to say that they can't get any satisfaction. Jesus has promised satisfaction. The Proverb before us today tells us that our appetite works for us. That's interesting, isn't it? Many people believe and live as if they need to work for their appetite, but no, your appetite can work for you. Your hunger can drive you on. Drive you on to what? Well, it will drive you to whatever it needs to be satisfied. Now you don't need to look very far around you to see the negative effects of inappropriate appetites, but the good news is that if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, if that is the hunger that drives you, your appetite will work for you and You Will Be Satisfied. On another occasion Jesus will say that if you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness then many other things will be added unto you. Hunger and thirst for righteousness, long for it, pray for it, hope for it, desire it and watch the appetite work for you.
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John Wesley (1703 - 1791). English Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and co-founder of Methodism, born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, to a rector’s family. Educated at Oxford, where he earned an M.A. in 1727, he was ordained in 1728 and led the Holy Club with brother Charles, emphasizing disciplined faith. After a failed mission to Georgia (1735-1737), he experienced a transformative conversion in 1738 at Aldersgate, London, feeling his “heart strangely warmed.” Wesley preached over 40,000 sermons, often outdoors, sparking the 18th-century Evangelical Revival, and traveled 250,000 miles on horseback across Britain and Ireland. He authored 400 works, including A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777), and edited The Christian’s Pattern. Founding Methodist societies, he trained 650 preachers and ordained ministers for America, influencing millions. Married to Mary Vazeille in 1751, their childless union strained, but his brother’s hymns enriched worship. A tireless advocate for the poor, he opened dispensaries and schools, and his 1787 sermon against slavery stirred abolitionism. Despite tensions with the Church of England, he never left it, shaping global Protestantism. His maxim, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” inspired generations to active faith. Wesley’s journals and letters, still widely read, reveal a legacy of practical holiness and social reform