Blessed! Part 4

Welcome back to the Beatitudes, the code of conduct for our lives. Jesus shows us how to have Christian character that flows from within. It is about transformation not behavior modification. The fourth one is just as much a radical outlook as the previous three were.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6

The idea here is that we are so needy, that we crave ardently and earnestly for divine approval. We long to be in right standing with God. We seek to know and do what is right In HIS eyes.

One commentator likened it to the deer panting for water, who perhaps after a long, hot day or running from a hunter finds a refreshing stream to rest and quench his thirst.

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul thirsts for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, the living God.” Psalm 42:1&2

Until we get to the point that we are so hungry - so thirsty - for God’s righteousness, we will never know the fullness of all He has promised to bless us with.

You know when you have had a really hard day (or week or month) and you tear apart your house for any chocolate that might be hidden away or fallen behind something? (just me?) That’s how we need to search for it!

Kent Hughes tells us that we need “a starvation for righteousness, a desperate hungering to be conformed to God’s will.”

So, we need to ask what hinders our spiritual hunger?
I think, in part, we can become comfortable with our sin. We can rationalize and excuse it.
We can become self-righteous with all that we do that is good and right. Which leads us to spiritual pride. When we have pride we don’t think we need anything or we will not humble ourselves to ask for help.

“Pride can make me despise my limitations and not go to God for His strength.” Jackie Hill Perry

When we think we are good, we have no need to search for the Savior or ask what He says is good or not.

I am reminded about the Samaritan Woman who had a life-changing encounter with Jesus when she recognized her need for a Messiah to be saved and set free. She went to fill up her jar with water and left being filled with the eternal Living Water.

By being spiritually thirsty, she was able to find her identity as a child of God, not just a Samaritan or a woman or one who had five husbands or is now living unmarried. When we are thirsty it will show up in our behavior by creating opportunities to go to Jesus and be filled.

Facing the truth about ourselves can be hard, until we do - until we face our need - we will never be fully hungry for all God has for us. We will continually be just full enough, all we need is a little snack. We are not starving.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says: “For if we do hunger and thirst we shall be filled. There is no qualifications at all, it is an absolute statement, it is an absolute promise — 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.'“

Can you imagine being so full, so saturated by the goodness of God that the only thing we want is more of God? We have peace, so we don’t have to numb ourselves. We have acceptance and value, so we don’t have to compromise to get approval. We have unconditional love, so we are not competing and comparing with others.

Abba, give us the kind of hungry and thirst for You that everything else tastes like a mouthful of sand. We long to be satisfied by You and You alone. Amen!

I hope you have the most wonderful day!
Love and Hugs,
~ Jodi

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