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'Blessed are those who hunger ...'
Hunger and thirst are strong desires that demand to be filled. Therefore, what you hunger and thirst for will determine the direction of your life. My contention is that everyone ultimately gets what they most desire. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ..." God blesses those who desire righteousness. Jesus' first listeners knew quite literally what it meant to hunger and thirst. Meat was a luxury in Palestine and fresh water was scarce. In those many moments of life when the food and water ran out, nothing mattered, absolutely nothing, except getting what you did not have. So it is with the spiritual hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. You don't have it naturally. You cannot produce it. You can only desire it and receive it by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed are the objects of such extravagant grace, grace which puts exuberant hunger in the hearts for the righteousness of Christ. This is the righteousness desired by the woman at the well (John 4:15), those first disciples (John 6:68), and the Apostle Paul (Philippians 3:6). This is the righteousness desired by Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon and other great Christians. Believers like these are not necessarily bad people made good, but empty people made hungry, and thirsty and full. They want Christ, and they will not be satisfied until they have him. So righteousness, the state of being right with God, the state of grace, the place of pardon by the blood of Christ, is something the blessed Christian desires more than anything. He receives righteousness by grace through faith, and returns righteousness in works. God blesses those who practice righteousness. For the Christian, "righteous" is something that God makes you and something God accomplishes through you. It is something you are and something you do. 1 John 3:7-10. Just as the righteous cannot rest until they are right with God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, so the blessed and righteous Christian cannot rest until God's righteousness is on display in their lifestyle and deeds. Righteous people are known through righteous living. Righteous people do things right. They do not make decisions and do work based upon the mores of the culture, the opinion polls of the populace or the altar of convenience and comfort. They simply do the right thing, as informed by the word, the spirit, and the will of God. David could have killed Saul, but he did the right thing by forgiving and honoring him. Matthew could have remained a fat cat tax brat, but he did the right thing by leaving money to follow the master. Why? Because they were hungry and thirsty to do what is right. Righteous people are known by their righteous giving. They give love, they give time, they give a witness. If you knew where to get the finest food and drink for free, would you not take it? Would you not share it? What made Paul the great missionary? His hunger and thirst for the power of the gospel to impute righteousness in other people. Such people help others get right with God. "... for they shall be satisfied." God blesses those who are satisfied with righteousness. Here the precise wording of the text becomes enormously important. "Hunger" and "thirst" are in the present indicative tense (a constant process). "Filled" is future and passive. The state of blessedness is to be found in the hungering and the thirsting now, while its perfect fulfillment is still to come. Satisfaction is not to be found among the lost, or among the nominal Christian who demonstrates no desire for the word, for worship or for good works. Satisfaction is found among the true believers whose hearts display a longing for Christ, for his presence, his word, even his imperfect bride, the church. The hunger and the thirst are the blessing now, and the best is yet to come. Does this mean that in this life, like the Rolling Stones, that "I can't get no satisfaction?" Yes, if your search for satisfaction is confined to sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Yes, if your search for satisfaction is limited to money and material things. But you can get satisfaction if you are a Matthew 6:33 Christian. For there is no greater satisfaction than being in the will of God and living according to the word of God. It is quite literally our heaven on earth. No beatitude cuts to the heart of the gospel better than this fourth one. It is a reflection of Genesis 15 and Galatians 3. It is a background commentary on Romans 1:16-17 and the basis for John 3:16.
Such righteousness is provided only in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Such righteousness is accepted only by those people who are truly "hungry" and "thirsty." And such righteousness, such hunger and thirst, puts us in a perfect place - the kingdom of God, where true blessings flow.
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