What Hunger Has Your Attention?

 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst 
after righteousness, 

for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The first three beatitudes flow into this one and the last beatitudes flow out of it.  Where there is a sense of poverty of spirit, we will mourn over our sin which results in meekness.  With that our hearts recognize our need for and cry out for righteousness.  Living in that righteousness, produces a merciful person, who is pure in heart, a peacemaker who lives a life that will provoke persecution.

What does my secular dictionary say?  Righteousness is devotion to a sinless life.  Must have been written by a Pharisee.  I’ll explain that statement tomorrow.

I don’t think we have to spend much time trying to figure out what hungering and thirsting is – although we probably don’t understand the words like those in third world countries do.  We know it enough.  What we don’t know is that hopeless feeling of hunger or thirst – not knowing you will soon find the means to satisfy the need.  And we don’t need to be able to identify with that feeling, because of the very promise to those who have this kind of hunger and thirst that is for righteousness – They shall be filled.  Although, I want to point out one thing that I think is important.  Most commonly when hunger or thirst or wanting something is expressed, this Greek word is used that in translating it would include the word of – literally, it would be, I am hungry for “of” food meaning “out of all the available food, I want some of it”.  This hungering is one that is saying – I want all I can get; I long for complete righteousness.  If God’s got the whole pizza for me, a piece of it just isn’t going to satisfy me – I want it all.  And wonderfully, we have the same sense in the word filled – complete filling or will be completely satisfied.

 

It’s what David meant when he said I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness (Psalm 17:15).  That’s total satisfaction. As long as I am living on this earth, I want as much of that as I can possibly have.

I love this quote:  To be hungry is not enough.  I must be starving to know what is in His heart toward me.  When the prodigal son was hungry, he went to feed on the husks.  But when he was starving he went to his father. 

Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness know this truth:  Luke 1:53  He has filled the hungry with good things,  And the rich He has sent away empty.

Now, when I used the example of the whole pizza, I would guess that some of you might have thought, no thanks – that’s too much of a good thing – a couple of pieces is more than sufficient.  Well, with pizza – that might very well be true.  But, all too often that is the position of many believers.  They have all of God that they want.  More of Him is not what they long for or hunger and thirst for.  But, keep this in mind – we all have a pizza size God hole in us and if we don’t fill it with Him, we will fill it with something else.  The one Jesus is speaking of here – knows what she needs to fill her hole with and wants nothing else.

We are body and spirit.  They oppose one another.  Yesterday we looked at this verse.  Let’s look at it again.  Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

The flesh and the spirit hunger and thirst for entirely different things.  I have a disease in my esophagus.  My gastroenterologist asked me what helped.  I said ice cream.  So, you know what he wrote on my chart – eat ice cream.  Now, at first I thought I couldn’t ask for a better recommendation – permission to eat ice cream.  My flesh absolutely loved that doctor.  Because my flesh is very conscious of short term pain and short term satisfaction.  Long term, it’s not interested in.  But, I know enough that if I heed my doctor’s instructions very often, I will suffer greatly long-term.  The body is so aware of its short term needs (or really, desires) and cries out to us to meet them – and it seems to be unaware or at least silent to our long-term needs.  Our spirit is not.  Our spirit knows that when it seeks long term needs, it’s short term needs are also satisfied.

The blessed one has figured something out – she has figured out what really satisfies.   And what satisfies is righteousness.  Now, that makes understanding righteousness very important. We’ll look at that tomorrow.

For now, check your hunger scale.  Your mind hungers; your body hungers; your emotions hunger; and your spirit hungers – every single day.  Which one gets priority?  Consider the first three.  When you give them the attention they cry out for and ignore/deny the cries of your spirit, what have you found to be the result?