Hunger And Thirst

Hunger and Thirst

Read: Matthew 5:3-10

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

Matthew 5:6

“How to be pure? By steadfast longing for the one good, that is, God.”

—Meister Eckhart

IN WORD Everyone hungers and thirsts. The difference between people is what they hunger and thirst for. Some hunger and thirst for accomplishment, others for recognition, and others for material or physical desires. For those who set their minds on such attainments, Jesus has no promise of fulfillment. But for those who set their minds on true righteousness, He gives His word: They will be satisfied.

Much of our anguish in this world results from unfulfilled desires. Our hunger and thirst may remain unfulfilled because they are misplaced. They were designed for eternal satisfaction, but we try to fill them with temporal things. Substitutes always fall short. We were created to enjoy the pleasures of life and the gifts of God, but we were not created to be filled by them. We were created to be filled by God Himself. His righteousness—Himself, in other words—is the ultimate prize we crave. We just have a hard time seeing that, so we run after lesser things.

IN DEED Where are your hunger and thirst directed? If you have a sense of obligation to be righteous, that obligation may never be realized. If you want to impress people with your righteousness, that will never fill you either. If you strive to achieve a level of righteousness that God can accept, you will never arrive. But if you know your own inadequacy and starve for a fulfillment that comes from outside of yourself—far beyond the ability of your own efforts—then let your hunger and thirst point you to the Bread of Life and the River of Living Water.

We hesitate to get our hopes up for such a promise. We have been awfully disappointed by human failures—ours and others’—much too often to think our deep-down hunger for purity can be satisfied. We’re afraid of such idealism. But Jesus never fails on a promise. We can be fulfilled. Let your hopes—and your hunger—run wild.