Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 ESV
The word righteousness means being right before God. This is not something we can attain on our own, but it is offered to us through the cross. Yet there is a higher desire in the heart that fully grasps the depth of God’s love and grace. Jesus compares this desire, this craving to be more and more like Christ, to a deep hunger and thirst.
Psalm 42:1-2 paints a clear picture of the soul that is driven to seek a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God: “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God” (other verses worth studying are Psalm 63:1, Psalm 143:6, and Amos 8:11).
Have you experienced this hunger for God’s Word? Do you long to be in His presence? Those who fervently seek Him will discover that peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7) and an inner contentment that rises beyond anything the world has to offer. Like Horacio Spafford they can affirm even in the midst of trials, “It is well with my soul.”
Prayer: Bless me Lord with your presence today. Satisfy my heart with the things that please you rather than the things of this world that I might become ever more like you, Lord. In your name I pray, Amen.
Thought: “The key to Christian living is a thirst and hunger for God. And one of the main reasons people do not understand or experience the sovereignty of grace and the way it works through the awakening of sovereign joy is that their hunger and thirst for God is so small.” – John Piper