Hunger And Thirst
Have you ever been hungry or thirsty? I mean really hungry or thirsty! My five year old grand-daughter Selam’s homeland is ‘Ethiopia. She is so precious and sweet. She’s only been with us eight months, and I cannot imagine our lives without her. She was talking with Poppy and I one day and said, “I ate a leaf once“. When I asked her when and why she said, “in Ethiopia because I was hungry“. Knowing where she came from, and how she came to be with us, I knew that she really meant she was hungry. Her little tummy was empty and she needed something to fill it. I can honestly say that I have never been hungry enough to eat a leaf. I do however get hungry and fill my physical tummy with food. Just as God created us to be physically hungry, He created us to be spiritually hungry. Sad to say, some people have never known that the spiritual hunger they feel is for the righteousness of the one true God. I spent many years trying to fill my hunger with everything but His righteousness, not knowing what I was truly hungry for. Like Selam’s leaf, filling spiritual hunger with this world’s small bits of “leaf” soon gives way to hunger again.
In our pursuit to truly believe and follow our God, Matthew 5:6 should be truly motivating for us. Jesus said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
What is this righteousness, that we hunger and thirst for? A very simple explanation of righteousness would be right living that comes from our desire for God. But let’s dig a little bit deeper. Since our desire is for God, what is God’s righteousness? “Righteousness in general is God’s uprightness (His standards). Since God Himself is the standard of the believers, the righteousness of God means the righteousness that belongs to God or to oneself for God, or God-like righteousness. His righteousness is imparted to us as a gift, and not earned. Man can only accept God’s righteousness upon his life as he repents of sin and receives Christ as Savior by faith, and thus becomes a child of God, realizing God’s claims upon him by the miraculous regenerating action of the Holy Spirit.” Quote From The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible
All of that, to say that it is not enough to just try to live right. We are seeking the righteousness of God by believing, accepting, and following obediently. Righteousness belongs to God, and is a gift from Him. We must hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness, just as Selam hungered for physical food. She was hungry enough to eat that leaf. Answer this question: Are you hungry and thirsty for God’s righteousness? Or, are you happy just eating a leaf, here and there? Most of us don’t skip many meals, so that our tummys can feel full. Let’s not skip feeding our desire for God, so that our spirits can feel full.
To hunger and thirst after the righteousness of God will be a continuing desire for the believer. We will always need filling. Make a list of ways in which God feeds you spiritually. Write down a time when you felt spiritually empty. When you were feeling spiritually empty, were you feeding properly? Where was your focus?
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I’ve discovered that I have to be very pro-active in my relationship with God. I love what the Word is doing in my life. I have to tell you, it’s not easy to be committed to studying the Word and writing about it on a daily basis. There are times when I miss a day, but not many. My prayer life has changed, my heart has changed, I feel more mentally fit, the Holy Spirit is more active in my life and in me personally, I handle and deal with life more skillfully and I can’t praise my living God enough. I didn’t know how hungry and thirsty I was until I felt some of that “shall be filled” that Jesus is teaching about. I will never stop needing to be filled. The great part is that Jesus promises us that if “we hunger and thirst after righteousness, we shall be filled“.
Key #4 to spiritual blessedness is to hunger and thrist after righteousness. The gift we receive is that we shall be filled.
Scripture to Ponder: Psalm 42:1-2
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