Hungering And Thirsting After Righteousness:
Matthew 5:6. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
Here Jesus speaks of a consuming anxiety for righteousness. Jesus portrays a man ravenous with hunger, parched and panting with thirst. Then He tells us that when we long for goodness as much as such a man longs for food and drink, then we are among the blessed of the Lord.
Most of us can remember when we came to the Lord, the over-whelming zeal, or desire, we had to serve Him. We saw visions, dreamed dreams; there was an in-satiable thirst for His blessings, a hunger to hear His word. We sought opportunities to witness.
But has time taken away the zeal? Has the years dulled the edge of our willingness to sacrifice out time and talents? Has life’s responsibilities weighted so heavily on us that we dropped down from the mountain-top and become content to live on a lower plain? Has the Laodicean spirit cooled our love for Jesus? Have we allowed other things to spoil our appetite for the things of God?
Other things may not be harmful in themselves, but too many things we give so much of our selves to them that they rob us of our hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus told Martha, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).
Matthew 5:6. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
I am fully persuaded that unless this Beatitude is fulfilled in someone’s life the Christian Religion will perish from the earth. That unless someone in this Church fulfills this Beatitude in their life, this Church too, shall perish from existence. I am persuaded that unless we as individuals fulfill this beatitude we will soon cease to be Christians. This is probable the most important Beatitude.
The greatest need in our lives is not more money to pay the bills, not more of this world’s goods, not more leisure time, not better health. Real happiness, real blessings only come when we seek after righteousness with all of our heart.
Righteousness is the desire to be right with God. It means a desire to be free from sin, because sin separates us from God. Paul says, “Zealous of good works.” To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to seek to rid our lives of sin in all its forms.
Titus 2:11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
We should hunger and thirst to get back into that old relationship. The original relationship of righteousness was in the presence of God. Adam and Eve were made righteous they dwelt and walked with God.
To hunger and thirst after righteousness means to desire to be free from the power of sin. It means to be free from the desire for sin. Free from the bondage of sin. He is a man who wants to show the Fruit of the Spirit in his every action. It means to be like Jesus.
Galatians 4:19. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,.”
To hunger and thirst after righteousness does not mean a passing feeling, a passing desire, it means something that keeps on until it is satisfied. Hunger is something deep, it hurts and is painful. It is something that causes suffering and agony. Hunger and Thirst persuades our every thought and our every action until satisfied.
Psalms 42:1. As the hart (deer) panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: ………
To be hungry is not enough; I must be starving to know what’s in the heart of God for me. When the Prodigal Son was hungry he went to feed upon husks. But when he was starving he turned to his Father.
To hunger and thirst really means to be desperate, to be starving, and feel like life is ebbing out. Happy, happy, blessed, to be congratulated are those who Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness.
But it is also a continuing process. By the help of the Holy Ghost you will be able to be more than conquerors over all the things that come against you. By hungering and thirsting after righteousness we will be able to stand in the presence of God, faultless, blameless without spot and without wrinkle. We should strive to be in the right places and doing the right things to receive food for our souls.
Blind Bartimaeus could not heal himself. But he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing through Jericho. So he took his stand on the road where Jesus would pass by him. Let’s put ourselves on the road where Jesus is passing. Jesus is very likely to pass through this Church today. Those who are here are very likely to be fed today.
To hunger and thirst after righteousness, is to crave the fellowship of Godly and Saintly people. Talk to them, spend some time with them, and keep close to them. That person who hungers and thirst after righteousness will have a desire to read and study God’s Word.
“Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee” “But His delight is in the Law of the Lord; and in His law doeth he meditate day and night.” Study and read His Book.
Finally that person who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, is a person who meets regularly and consistently with God in prayer. Great men of God gave the best time of their day to God.
Daniel 6:10. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
11. Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
King Darius to Daniel: 20. …… “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions”?
Luke 6:12. And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
13. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
Philippians 3:13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 5:6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Psalms 16:11. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
