Anchor My Faith

Those Who Hunger and Thirst

Scripture: Matthew 5:6

The poor in spirit inherit the kingdom, those who mourn are comforted, the meek inherit the earth and now we come to the fourth beatitude: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Don’t miss the story that is unfolding here. Who make up God’s kingdom? The poor in spirit. How do they view their sin? They are convicted of their sin and mourn over it. What happens to those with broken hearts? God comforts them. In our brokenness we develop a meek and humble heart and are promised a place on the new earth. By this time our appetite will be changing and we will hunger and thirst for righteousness over our sin.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness understand that God is the ultimate source of real righteousness, and as a result they long for his righteous character to be evident in their lives as well as others. These have come to understand that this need will be met in a personal growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

We can trace this desire back to Psalm 63:1 (ESV): “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” In a land where there is no water there will be a lack of food. There the situation is dire with life in the balance. The need for food and drink is very great, for without it death is sure to come. It is with this desire that we are to seek his righteousness.

For those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, how does God satisfy their need? This need will not be fully met until we are together with God in his kingdom, but in the meantime we will experience growth in righteousness. When we are born spiritually we receive a gracious gift of righteousness, which we call justification. As a result, we are declared righteous in the courts of heaven, but being declared righteous and being righteous are two different conditions. Once declared righteous we will, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, desire to do righteous works and find fulfillment through the power of the Spirit. This process is called sanctification, in which we become more and more like Jesus Christ. Then in the future when Jesus returns and establishes universal righteousness, we shall all be changed. This we call glorification.

How does one develop an intense desire for righteousness? That desire is determined by what we give ourselves to: “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Romans 6:13 ESV). We yield ourselves to righteousness and then our spiritual walk is guided and empowered by the Spirit into a close relationship with Jesus and as we spend time with him and learn from him and long to be like him. As we long we hunger and thirst and he satisfies.

Prayer

Father, the question each of us must answer is what do we long for? Is it what we can see that the world has to offer or is it being like Jesus and clothed with his righteousness? In countries of persecution this righteousness comes with great cost of suffering of our bodies. Here in the west, this righteousness comes as we transition from being of the world to being in the world. Father, here in the west this is not a task that that believers have as a high priority. Have mercy on us, for we seem willing to live in spiritual poverty.