Jesus said “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” This verse makes me extremely sad, because if I honestly look at many people I know who say they believe, I see people hungering and thirsting for their jobs, for building their homes, for raising their kids, for entertainment, for satisfaction in the world and for gathering possessions for themselves. If I’m honest, I have to say what I see, and if I am honest, I’ve been as guilty as anyone. So what does Jesus desire of us? Blessed. We are blessed as we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Consider that for a minute. How much of your time, treasures, and talents do you spend chasing after luxuries , when Jesus says we’re blessed as we hunger and thirst for Righteousness? There is nothing in this life that can satisfy us apart from the righteousness of God. It’s why the saints since the beginning have gone to the sacrificial altar and died singing songs of joy, even as their flesh was torn asunder by lions, or burned at the stake. When God’s holiness and righteousness are our focus, how can we be satisfied in anything less?
… are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Hunger and Thirst. They long for it, seek it desperately, and chase after it. The righteousness of God, for them is the ultimate goal, and if it is all they have, then they have all they need. Like Poverty of Spirit, their soul is satisfied alone in righteousness. And we know the only source of righteousness is God. What does your soul crave? Are you seeking satisfaction in the temporary, or in the never failing, never fading, always constant God of the Universe? It is only in Him that righteousness is found.
…for they shall be satisfied. Satisfaction only comes as we submit to the righteousness of God, as we seek after it with everything we are. We can never be satisfied outside of the righteousness of God. No amount of corporate power, no wealth, no amount of accomplishments, or any such things can bring that. Jesus said, later in this very sermon, that worrying about anything else is moot, and that we should seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, THEN all the things we desire will be added to us. If we want strong homes and families? Seek the righteousness of God. Do we want to be content in this life? Only the righteousness of God will lead us there. Has God blessed you in abundance in all things? Wonderful! Yet they will not satisfy you if you are not hungering and thirsting after righteousness. It is only in God’s righteousness that we will find rest and contentment. And God’s rest is only found in Jesus Christ.
Matthew 6:19-34
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
