Now we are talking about a subject that I like, food and drink! Have you ever been really hungry? So hungry that your stomach felt completely empty. I admit, it is not often that I feel that way, but that’s because I like to eat and eat often. I eat so that I don’t get hungry. I have also carried an insulated glass of water with me so much that I feel lost without it. I drink water all day long, and anytime I wake up at night. We are very careful to meet our physical needs for food and drink, but how about our spiritual needs for food and drink? That is what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5:6. God wants us to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness. He promises to those who have an appetite for righteousness that He will fill them. He also promises that they will be blessed, meaning they will experience a happiness that is fully satisfied in God.
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
He uses an analogy we can all understand. We are all keenly aware of our need for food and for drink. These needs occur daily, and usually several times each day. When our physical needs cry out to us, we seek to meet them. How about your spiritual hunger and thirst? Do you know when you are spiritually dehydrated and empty? I know that when we go without food for several days, our bodies adjust, and we are not as hungry on the third day as we were on the first. If we continue, we will soon have no appetite. The mere thought of food is not appealing to us. Is this where you are spiritually? Are you hungry for God’s word? Do you wake up anxious to spend time with God? Do you love Him so much that you long to talk to Him in prayer?
To hunger and thirst for righteousness, is to have a strong desire for what is right in God’s eyes. I believe there is a lesson in the character traits of hungering and thirsting. They are appetites that return frequently. We are to desire God and His righteousness often, so often that we will be seeking opportunities to satisfy that desire. Our bodies were not designed to eat once a day or three times a week and be done. Our spiritual appetites should be no different. With that in mind, how do we increase our desire to hunger and thirst for righteousness? We do that by practicing it. We set a regular time each day to spend with God. The more we learn about Him and His ways, the more we will love Him and desire to spend more time with Him. If we limit our time to three times a week, or once a week at church, that will become our habit. Soon, the craving for more will go away. We will think we are ok, yet our spirit will become weak and sickly because of the lack of nourishment.
Another trait evident in hunger and thirst is the freshness required when we eat or drink. We don’t want food or drink that has been sitting on the table for a day or two. We want fresh, cool water and food that has just been prepared. Lamentations 3:22-23 teaches us that God’s mercies are new every morning. Every morning, we should be seeking what God has for us.
Lamentations 3:22-23 “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
Many focus on the happiness or satisfaction this “be” attitude brings, but that is a backward approach. We are to hunger and thirst for righteousness, and the byproduct we experience will be that we are fully satisfied or blessed.
It is up to us to feed on God’s word and drink from the fountain that will never run dry. No one can make us have a desire for His righteousness. We must choose Him and His righteousness. Start today to increase your appetite. The psalmist said it well in Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Seek after Him, and you will be filled and satisfied.
Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Proverbs 8:17 “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”
Psalm 63:1 “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsted for thee, my flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”
