Blessed are those who hunger

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. – Matthew 5v5

Hunger and thirst are things I can really identify with – especially hunger. I enjoy eating. It doesn’t take much to get me to the table. To a lot of us not much takes priority over what we eat and what we drink. One of the first questions I ask every day is what we are having for dinner. I like to make sure that I get my share of the food. I even designate my own piece of Roger’s World Renown Five Cheese Lasagne.

And all of that without every really being hungry.

Real hunger drives people. Real thirst makes people obsessed with getting something to drink. When people are really, truly hungry and thirsty they will do anything to get their food and water.

That is the picture Jesus applies here to spiritual hunger and thirst. Hungering and thirsting can be used for any number of things. We can hunger and thirst for popularity or reputation or possessions or anything else, but those pursuits will always leave us empty. If that is what obsesses and processes us we will never be satisfied.

There is a way to be filled. Jesus said, ‘blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.’

What would it be like if those of us who love to eat pursued our spiritual needs with the same energy we pursue our physical needs? There is always filling when we pursue righteousness. It is a pursuit that will result in satisfaction.

Even better than that, Jesus tells us elsewhere that if we will pursue righteousness everything else will take care of itself because God knows what we need.

The next time we are physically hungry or thirsty might we be reminded of the blessing and promise of hungering and thirsting after God’s righteousness.