(This article is part of a series that begins here.)
The fourth beatitude is, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5:6, NIV)
The word translated “filled,” or in other translations “satisfied,” is always used in the context of food, not some sort of spiritual satisfaction. The word literally means filled with food, to have enough to eat, or even to be gorged with food.
This means Jesus was pointing to a real physical satisfaction coming from hungering and thirsting not for food, but for righteousness. Moses also wrote about this.
He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. (Deu 8:3, NASB)
We cannot live without food and water, but God provides our food and water, therefore it does makes sense to desire him more than physical sustenance. However, Jesus was not telling us how to get our food and drink, rather he wanted us to look beyond our physical needs and toward what truly satisfies.
When Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman, he was directing her attention from the immediate physical need for water to the eternal need of salvation, as well as to an active and dynamic relationship with our Heavenly Father.
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14, NIV)
The woman responds, “give me this water,” but instead Jesus tells her to call her husband, exposing her sin. This will always happen when we approach the light, because we must deal with our sin when we come to God (1 John 1:8-10).
The Good News is that Jesus died for our sins, but everyone knows this already. So many songs and teachings speak about the magnificent and far-reaching grace of God. Not so many speak on the need to repent, though. This is a great loss! The message of Christ in all the the gospels is, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matt 3:8, 4:17, Mark 1:4-5, 14-15, Luke 3:3, 7-8, 5:32, John 3:19-21).
As I mentioned in my post on the mourning beatitude, sin separates us from God. The repentant heart knows this and seeks reconciliation with God by asking for forgiveness and turning away from our sin. Jesus did not die so that we can live for ourselves and embrace our sin, but so that we can live for him (2 Cor 5:15) and become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).
This hunger and thirst for righteousness will express itself as a desire for God that will permeate our whole life, our every thought and attitude, and this will lead us to a true physical satisfaction surpassing even our basic human needs. This makes it clear that walking with Jesus is not an experience of a vague feeling of love or a vain appreciation for his sacrifice on the cross. It means we truly love who he is, his righteousness and holiness, and have a deep and powerful desire to be like him. Desiring to be like God makes repentance a natural and beautiful part of our relationship with God.
And if we desire the righteousness of God more than food and water, where is our complaining about jobs and spouses and money and every other issue that upsets and stresses and depresses us? Getting there is not easy, we must train ourselves to desire righteousness on a daily basis. Did you miss that?
There will be moments when what we truly desire will force its way to the surface and expose our heart’s condition. David set us an example in this when he had to flee from his home after his own son took over his kingdom. David was in the wilderness between Jerusalem and the Jordan, a refugee in his own kingdom, when he wrote this:
God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory. My lips will glorify You because Your faithful love is better than life. (Psalms 63:1-3, HCSB)
In a moment of crisis, there is great urgency and we respond with whatever is truly in our hearts. David’s response was to recognize the terrible situation he was in and turn to God, remembering what he had seen and experienced, remembering who God is and what God does.
Our daily life prepares us for these real tests of our faith, where we may have to choose the righteousness of God over our basic needs (would you lie to avoid getting fired?). We must not wait for the urgent moment, we must live today with a proper sense of urgency! What are we doing to develop a hunger and thirst for righteousness that is completely confident in the provision of God?
Maybe we should get up a little earlier so we can read the Bible for 30 minutes in the morning, instead of sleeping in and speed reading the little paragraph of a “morning devotional” that is a product of someone else’s time in the Word. Maybe we should take notes during our pastor’s sermon and try to do what we learn during the next week, so that we actually change and become like Jesus, instead of putting on a face of faithfulness week after week. Maybe we should deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and walk with Jesus, instead of living for ourselves.
Blessings! – Shamar Covenant
(The next article in this series is Beatitudes 5 – Mercy)