Filled Up

The other day I was really hungry.  REALLY hungry.  I could've eaten anything!  (Okay, not anything.  But close.)

While I was hungry for edible food, Jesus taught us in the Beatitudes about another kind of hunger: "'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied'" (Matthew 5:6). Righteousness is right standing with God, but we can't get that on our own.  Jesus gives it to us (1 Corinthians 1:30 and Philippians 3:9) when we trust Him alone and repent of our sin.  Righteousness is Christ-likeness; we must be close to Christ to be like Him, to be righteous.  But what does it mean to hunger for righteousness?

When my little brother was a baby, he let us know when he was hungry.  Once he decided that he was ready for a bottle, he wanted it immediately, and he screamed until he got it!  Nothing else would satisfy him.  "Like newborn babies," Peter wrote, "crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation" (1 Peter 2:2).  When we're spiritually hungry, we should settle for nothing less than that which alone will ultimately satisfy.  Trying to satisfy our hunger with anything else is like giving a starving man a Hershey's kiss - it tastes good but doesn't help the hunger or give any nutrition.  No little baby would settle for anything but the bottle; we must not settle for anything less than God's Word.

We are not to be proud of our righteous acts.  The Bible says that sometimes the righteous begin to trust in their righteousness instead of God's mercy and then they commit evil (Ezekiel 33:13).  Righteousness is God's gift to those who believe in Him and repent (Philippians 2:13).  To hunger for righteousness is to hunger to be like God - to put Him first and to bring glory to Him, not to earn our own way to Heaven or impress those around us.  Righteousness is something God gives to us; we must give the glory to God for our righteous acts and not try to steal the glory for ourselves.

“To know You is to want to know You more,” the song testifies (Casting Crowns, "To Know You"). Matthew 5:6 holds one of the greatest promises in the Bible.  "'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...'"  Now, hungering and thirsting are not pleasant experiences.  They're worth it, though, "'...for they shall be satisfied.'"  He will not leave us hungry, or give us sweet but non-filling treats.  We will be filled.  As the famous psalm tells us, "my cup overflows" (Psalm 23:5).

Photo Credit: Simon Howden from FreeDigitalPhotos.net