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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: After being out of church for many years, I returned to see what I might be missing because I’d been saved as a child. The preacher got my attention by describing the me I am today. He talked about the fact that many people long for someone, and that someone is Jesus. He didn’t really explain it, but I am intrigued. What does that really mean? – L.F.

A: The Bible tells us that God has set eternity in the human heart. We need people, and most of all we need God. We want to be near someone who cares for us and is there for us. Others may disappoint us and abandon us, but when we belong to the Lord Jesus, He never leaves us. We can have the special presence of God Himself with us always.

Imagine being under water for a period of time – longer than expected. The greater the time under water, the more we will long for a breath of air until that desire overwhelms, causing us to reach for the surface as rapidly as possible. No other thoughts come other than quenching the need for air.

That describes what it means to “long for God.” In another context, it means to “hunger and thirst” after righteousness with the same desires that lead us to quench our physical need for food and water.

How many of us are content to give God only a brief moment of our time, a hasty prayer before a meal, a few coins in the offering plate on Sunday, and forget about Him the rest of the time? God wants us to long for Him because it is in that longing that we are fulfilled by God and nourished by being constantly in fellowship with Him.

We are never more fulfilled than when our longing for God is met by His presence.

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

©2026 Billy Graham Literary Trust. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

(c)2026 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.