Salvation Summaries

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

In my recent posts, I reviewed Jesus’ first three beatitudes in His Sermon on the Mount. The first two, poor in spirit and mourn, show how a person becomes saved. The third, meek (or humble), shows the attitude a new Christian should have towards God. In His fourth beatitude, Jesus identifies the next step a Christian should take to grow spiritually, which is to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Unfortunately, I believe too many Christians – for lack of knowledge (of how to grow spiritually) or worldliness – remain stuck in the mourn-to-meek or meek part of the beatitudes, and need help in advancing to the next level. This post will help with that.

Hunger and Thirst

We all know what hunger and thirst mean when applied to food and drink, but what did Jesus mean when he related it to righteousness? It would appear to mean that we should desire righteousness – whatever righteousness means – but is there more to it than that? Let’s find out.

If we start with Thayer’s Lexicon for the above verse and related ones, we see that hunger is to “crave ardently” or “seek with eager desire,” and thirst is “to painfully feel the want of, and eagerly long for, those things by which the soul is refreshed.” Similarly, Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines hunger as “to desire with great earnest; to long for” and thirst as “vehement desire for; want and eager desire.”

Using these definitions, to hunger and thirst for righteousness goes far beyond how we typically feel when we are hungry or thirsty, and would better describe our feelings and emotions if we fasted from food or drink for a day or two. If this were to happen, we would desperately want something to eat or drink, and be willing to do just about anything to get some. The thought of eating or drinking would occupy our mind, and rise to one of the most important things in our life. I believe THIS is the level of desire and intensity Jesus wanted to convey to us when he used the phrase “hunger and thirst” rather than something like “seek.” Furthermore, because we hunger and thirst each day, I believe His use of this phrase means that we should seek righteousness (earnestly and with intensity) every day.

So, fellow Christian, if the above is true, let me ask you a question. Do you do this? Do you seek earnestly and desperately seek righteousness every day? No. I don’t either. And because we don’t, we are missing out on the joy and satisfaction (the Amplified Bible says “nourished by God’s goodness” as a possible interpretation of “blessed”) that Jesus said we would receive. Wow. I want that!

Righteousness

Now that we know what “hunger and thirst” means, we need to turn our attention to the righteousness that Jesus spoke of.

In my last post on The #1 Requirement to be Saved according to Jesus, I said that righteousness could be defined in two ways. One way represents the doctrine and the condition by which we are acceptable to God, which is by faith in Jesus. The other has to do with righteous living, and I’ve summarized below a number of verses about this.

• Righteous refers to the high standard to which one lives: specifically, obedience to God’s commands, blameless, pure, upright, with honesty and integrity. It thus refers to righteous living. (Deut 9:5; Ps 15:2, 18:20-26; 2 Sam 22:21-22; Prov 11:5-6).   
• A person of righteousness, or who is righteous, is to live blamelessly. (Phil 1:9-11; 1 Tim 6:11; 1 Jn 3:7-8). Blameless refers to how one acts/behaves/lives towards God; it is similar to holy and includes upright, fearing God, living in obedience to God’s word and turning away from evil. (Gen 17:1; Job 1:1; Phil 2:14-15; 2 Sam 22:24; Ps. 119:3)
• To practice righteousness, you have to first be righteous (1 Jn 3:7).

Thus, a righteous lifestyle is one that is holy, upright and blameless. It is one of honesty and integrity, and is something we should seek (Matthew 6:33). God loves those who are righteous (Psalm 11:7) and delights in those whose walk is blameless (Proverbs 11:20).

When Jesus used the word “righteousness”, I believe this what He had in mind rather than the first definition of righteousness, which is our salvation by faith in Him. In addition, I believe that Jesus had Himself in mind too, or in other words, Christians are to seek Him, for according to John 6:35, Jesus said “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

Filled

Filled simply means satisfied.

Summary

Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. Hunger and thirst mean that a Christian should desperately and earnestly seek to live a holy, blameless and righteous life, and also seek Christ, for only He can satisfy our desire. In addition, this is something we should do daily, for we get hungry and thirsty every day.

So, how do we do this?

First, we have to agree that this is what Jesus meant. He did not require that we do this – it’s not a command – but if we want to grow spiritually – which all Christians should – it is something we need to do.

Second, it takes effort and a commitment on our part. This is something we have to work at doing each day.

And third, in terms of a practical “how,” I think the easiest way for us to do this is to say an earnest prayer to Jesus prior to each time we eat or drink. It could be something such as,

“Dear Jesus. You said that Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. You also said that You would bless and satisfy those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and after You.

I long to live in a righteous and blameless way that pleases You and my Father, and I long to know You better as my Savior.

Please reveal Yourself to me today in a way that I can understand, and give me wisdom to know what You want me to do.

Amen.”

Finally, after you say a prayer similar to the one above, trust that Jesus will indeed answer it. Trust that He will reveal Himself to you – in your mind and heart – in some way that day or soon thereafter. Look for signs…for evidence of Him doing this. And when (not if) He does, and you experience the joy of knowing that He did, thank Him.