As we make our way through the Beatitudes, we come to one all of us can relate to. We have all been hungry at one time or another. We all understand how it feels to have that hunger satisfied. In Alabama, where I live, we certainly understand what it feels like to be thirsty. In the summer months, it is very hot and dry. When working outside you become thirsty quickly, and often. If you don’t quench your thirst, your muscles will begin to cramp, and it is hard to continue the task. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus uses the terms hunger and thirst to show us how to seek after righteousness.
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
When we are hungry or thirsty, we cannot focus on anything else. The desire to satisfy our physical bodies consumes us. We will do almost anything to fill the desire to satisfy our physical needs. Yet, most of the world never thinks about their spiritual needs, they are happy to live day to day never thinking of eternity. Jesus uses the terms hunger and thirst because they can easily be understood by anyone. This should be the intensity of our desire for righteousness. A desire that is all-consuming. It is a seeking to do what is right in the eyes of God more than anything else.
In Psalm 42:1-2, we find this same consuming desire for God. A hart is a deer, and the imagery takes our minds to a deer running breathlessly to find water. The desire is something everyone can relate to, our bodies not only crave water, but they must also have it to live. Those who seek after righteousness are seeking the very essence of God. He is just, perfect, and holy. He is a righteous God. No sin can, nor will be in His presence. The person who loves God must love righteousness and desire to have it. The heart that hungers and thirsts for righteousness is intense on doing what pleases God both in their own lives and in the world. They understand their mission after salvation is to please God in their actions by winning others to Him.
Psalm 42:1-2 “As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”
Another aspect of hunger and thirst is that it must be maintained. Today’s filling of food and quenching our thirst cannot take care of tomorrow’s desires. It will be an ongoing desire that requires an ongoing filling. God provides satisfaction to those who are seeking Him in this manner. This person will be “blessed,” fully satisfied, with God. A person who seeks righteousness examines everything they do or say in view of the holiness of God. They see things through the lens of eternity. They seek to know God’s word and how He thinks about a situation. His word is their guide for daily living. This person will be satisfied just like the hungry man is satisfied with a good meal or a thirsty man is satisfied with a cool drink of water. Jesus promises their satisfaction in Matthew 5:6, just as He did in John 7:37-38. In John 6:35, Jesus declares He is the bread of life. He is the sustainer and those who come to Him will never be without sustenance again. In John 4:14, He is the living water, a stream of refreshment that has no end. A well that does not run dry.
John 7:37-38 “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
John 4:14 “But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Where are you on the spectrum of hunger? Do you daily seek him through study and prayer? Are you thirsty, so thirsty that you can’t wait to spend time with Him? Do you feel distant from God, unfulfilled, so much so that you are not satisfied? If that is the case, you are looking in the wrong places to quench your thirst and satisfy your hunger. Jesus promises you will be fully satisfied, blessed, when you hunger and thirst for Him. The wonderful news about hungering and thirsting after God is that He will fill us, and the more you desire him the more you will want Him. Your love for Him and His righteousness will be the delight of your life and nothing else will satisfy your soul. Today, turn to the only one who can give you complete filling and peace.
