Pangs of Hunger and Thirst

All our striving to be as moral as possible seeking to establish righteousness only amounts to acts of self-righteousness and is of no value whatsoever.

All our performing of good works is just that, a performance which is admirable but cannot establish true righteousness.

Righteousness is a gift, given freely when we actively apply the Blood of Jesus in our lives. There is nothing we can do to add to this righteousness. What we can do is discard all our illusions of personal righteousness and earnestly seek after that right standing with God through Christ Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

We need to understand what is in store for us when we fully give our lives over to God. When we earnestly desire and delight ourselves in Him, we find ourselves in a position to receive all that He has for us.

It is completely within the power of God to provide us with everything we need. Our provisions from God are both physical and spiritual. And both are to be graciously received, not worked for.

Self-righteousness places us smack dab in the middle of spiritual drought and famine and sadly we do not realize it. We feel hungry and thirsty but don’t know what for, so we get food and water, believing that the need is a physical one but are still not satisfied. We don’t comprehend that we have become spiritually mal-nourished and dehydrated because in this state, our flesh plays games with our minds.

It takes a genuine hunger and thirst for God, His Kingdom and His Righteousness, for us to overcome such games.

On that mountain, Jesus continued…

 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6 NRSV)

Unlike most if not all of us, Jesus’ audience knew what it was like to suffer extreme hunger and thirst. They did not have to use their imaginations, this was their reality, their lives. Jesus’ words would have jolted not just their memories but would have played on their emotions and their fears as well. They knew that feeling, that pain, that yearning for food and water…they knew this desert wilderness experience well, for it was indelibly etched in their present and their past.

Remembering the relentless ferocity of their hunt for food and water in a desolate place, Jesus’ words would have penetrated every fibre of their bodies, and they would have understood what He meant. Do you?

Do you hunger and thirst for the things of God.

Painting by Lennox Robinson

Like the woman at the well (John 4), encountering Jesus will impact your heart, that place deep within you, with such conviction, that it would be like life-giving sustenance.

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water…Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” – John 4:10, 13-14 (NRSV)

Jesus wants us to always hunger and thirst for His Righteousness. We must long for it passionately. We must drink of His Living Water, the Holy Spirit, who will enable us to do the will of God, which is our meat (see John 4:34).

Jesus was and is saying to reach out to those who are hurting and in any kind of need, in humility and with lovingkindness. Becoming a reflection of Him in our families, in our communities – at home, at work, at church – building His Kingdom will be our fulfilment.

“The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.” (Isaiah 58:11 NRSV)

Amen!

 

Shelley Johnson “Pangs of Hunger and Thirst” © January 23, 2024