Getting What We Really Need
I apologize for not getting a blog entry out for the 18th and doing the one for the 19th when the day is almost over. It’s been a bit of a hectic week and this slipped my mind yesterday and today.
The beatitude that I’m focusing on now is Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” This is probably my favorite one. The words “hunger and thirst” are words that describe basic human needs. No one can go without food and no one can go without drink. And the way that Jesus uses these words is interesting to me. He uses them as verbs, very active verbs. We don’t often use the words “hunger and thirst” as verbs. We usually use them as nouns. But Jesus is communicating a sense of urgency here that, unfortunately, I admit to not having at times in my life.
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those who truly desire righteousness above every thing else. They see righteousness as their basic, human need. We know also that human beings cannot acquire such righteousness. There is no “righteousness restaurant” which can provide what we hunger and thirst for. Only God can provide that.
And He promises to do just that! What an amazing God. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness “shall be filled”. Most of us have gone to the refrigerator during the night to find something to satisfy our human hunger and many times we can’t find anything we like. The meat with green stuff is not what we are looking for. The left over vegetables just don’t make the grade. We close the door of the fridge very unsatisfied. But that’s not the way it is with God. If we hunger and thirst for righteousness God promises to meet the need.