Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6, NASB)
Professional golfers can usually be seen munching on protein bars, bananas, and other healthy snacks during their round. I tend to prefer something more “hearty” when I get to the halfway house.
On some of my “bucket list trips,” I have experienced wonderful grub. The best I have ever had is the legendary “Burger Dog” at the Olympic Club.
The “Pub Beer Brats” at Erin Hills were a close second, followed by the various beef and game jerkies at Bandon Dunes. While not necessarily the healthiest offerings, my hunger was easily satisfied by these culinary offerings.
In Matthew 5:6, Jesus uses the metaphor of “hunger and thirst.” It describes the most basic, urgent, intense, and recurring human needs. His audience knew what it meant to experience real hunger and real thirst. In their history, the Jewish people frequently experienced droughts, crop failures, and famines.
The roots of this Beatitude can be found in Old Testament Scripture. Psalm 42:1 uses the language of a “spiritual thirst”: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” The Minor Prophets, like Amos, emphasized an “external thirst” for God. He wrote, “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” (Amos 5:24, NIV)
The fourth of Jesus’ Beatitudes in Matthew represents a critical pivot point in His preaching. As we have seen in prior devotionals focused on the opening Beatitudes, Jesus deals with an individual’s internal realization of their own spiritual emptiness: acknowledging spiritual bankruptcy, mourning over sin and brokenness, and exhibiting meekness and surrender to God.
In verse 6, Jesus shifts the focus from an inward view to an outward view toward something better—God’s righteousness.
Righteousness means to live rightly before God and long for God’s will to prevail. It has a dual meaning. It refers to a personal desire for moral integrity, virtue, and a heart aligned with God’s will.
It also refers to a longing for justice and “rightness” in the world that witnesses the correction of social wrongs and the vindication of the oppressed.
Being in a right relationship with God involves living according to God’s standards, longing for God’s justice in the world, and daily reflecting His character.
Jesus flips the worldly notion of the pain of physical hunger upside down by declaring that the “hunger of the spirit” is blessed because, if we hunger in this manner, we recognize the need and the necessity of asking God to fill the emptiness in our hearts.
God’s gracious invitation to us to be satisfied and filled is reflected in Isaiah 55:1-3: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.”
Jesus’ message is that the blessed life belongs to the person who increasingly wants God more than comfort; holiness more than image; truth more than approval; and Christlikeness more than control or success. The self-satisfied, the powerful, and the outwardly religious are not the people who are truly blessed.
As my faith journey continues, there remains in me a growing desire to know Him more fully, obey Him more faithfully, reflect His character more clearly, and see His kingdom advanced in the lives of others.
It is not one virtue among many, but rather it is the lifelong appetite that fuels continued spiritual growth until the day Christ fully satisfies that longing in His eternal kingdom. If your spirit hungers and thirsts, and you yearn to be satisfied, come join me on this journey.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, our spirits hunger and thirst for righteousness. We come to You to be filled so that we may live according to Your will and better reflect Jesus’ character each day to those who see us.