Are you hungry and thirsty for righteousness?
Have you ever been hungry? I mean really hungry, not just three hours after lunch and you know the next meal is a few hours away. I mean hungry because you haven’t had any food to eat for a couple of days, or you don’t have enough food. and then what about being hungry and thirsty for righteousness?
There’s a kind of hunger when you don’t know how or when your next meal is coming. It can be a kind of scary if you’ve ever been in that situation. And you might be totally preoccupied with worrying about having enough food, doing whatever you can to get something to eat, or you might try to avoid thinking about it so you’re not constantly reminded of how hungry you are.
Now, if you’ve never been in that kind of situation, it’s really hard to imagine what it’s like. Although there have been a few times in my life when I didn’t know where my next meal was coming from, I have never gone hungry for very long.
The times I say, “I’m hungry,” it usually means I know it’s almost time to eat. There’s plenty of food available and it’s just a matter of deciding what it will be or where to get it. When I say, “I’m hungry,” there’s usually a sense of expectation of what I’m about to eat.
Jesus’s metaphor
Whether it’s going without food for several days, or being hungry just before you’re about to eat a meal, feeling hungry is something almost everyone can relate to.
I think that’s why Jesus uses hunger as a metaphor for teaching spiritual lessons.
For example, in his Sermon on the Mount he says being hungry is a blessing, when you’re hungry for the right things.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6 NIV
I used to wonder what that really meant. What is Jesus getting at here? What does it actually mean to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness?
I would imagine most of the people listening to Jesus preach that day could relate to what it meant to be hungry and thirsty. Later in the Sermon, he actually acknowledges that people are concerned about where their next meal would come from or if they’ll have enough to eat.
Seeking God’s righteousness
And of course Jesus has an answer for those folks, which probably isn’t even close to what they were expecting he might say.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:25, 26, 31-33 NIV
There’s that word righteousness again. First Jesus tells us to be hungry and thirsty for it. Now he’s telling us to seek for it, along with the kingdom of God, first and foremost.
When Jesus repeats an idea, we need to pay attention and do what we can to do what he’s telling us.
What does it actually mean to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness?
So what does it mean to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness, to seek it first, before we even try to satisfy the basic human needs for food and clothing? And is that even reasonable?
Well, before we can talk about what it means to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness, we need to know what righteousness is, what God’s righteousness is.
The Hebrew word for righteousness comes from a root word which simply means to be right, to do right, to be just, to act justly. In this sense, God is always right and just. He always does what is right and just.
Righteousness is one of God’s primary qualities and attributes. And Jesus wants you and me to be hungry and thirsty for this aspect of God’s nature. He wants us to seek it, to make it of primary importance in our lives. He wants us to eat it up, to take it in, to embrace it, and live it in our daily lives.
Just take a moment and think about the implications of what Jesus is actually saying here. He’s making the point that it is possible for God’s righteousness to found by us and be part of our lives.
Jesus knew you can be righteous
And this makes total sense because Jesus knew we are the image and likeness of God, like it says in the first chapter of Genesis. Since God is righteous, we are the image likeness of His righteousness. It’s part of our spiritual nature, or identity, as well.
Now you may be thinking: Hey James, this all sounds great and I know it’s true in theory, but there are times when I do not feel I am very righteous. In fact, I feel just the opposite sometimes.
I know, I feel that way too sometimes. But it is these very times when I can feel that hunger and thirst for righteousness Jesus is talking about.
Let me ask you a question. How do you know when you’re hungry or thirsty? It’s a feeling of needing something you don’t have, but hopefully will have soon.
As I said earlier, there’s an anticipation that having something to eat and drink will satisfy your hunger and thirst because this has happened before and you know what to expect.
How do you know when you’re hungry and thirsty for righteousness?
So when you have lived God’s righteousness at one point in your life but at the moment you’re far from living like the image and likeness God’s righteousness, it’s a time when God sends you a wake-up call.
God will do something to get your attention and this is when being hungry and thirsty for righteousness is so important.
Just think of one of your favorite foods, which you haven’t had for a while. Now imagine you’re hungry and someone says you’re going to get this favorite food of yours for dinner, which is in a couple of hours.
As the minutes pass, and you are looking forward to that favorite food of yours, I can almost guarantee that you’re going to be full of anticipation because you know you’re going to enjoy this meal. Just thinking about it makes you even hungrier than you were before.
When you have tasted, or we’ll say experienced, God’s righteousness in the past, but right now you feel far from it, it makes you hungry and thirsty for righteousness. You want more of it in your life. This is what Jesus is talking about.
Do you ever forget you’re hungry and thirsty for righteousness?
I have a friend who sometimes gets so busy in her schedule she forgets to eat, sometimes several meals in a row. She suddenly realizes she’s hungry and then fixes herself something to eat.
Sometimes we get so busy with what’s going on in life, we forget or neglect to feed ourselves spiritually. It suddenly dawns on us that we’re only living on the surface of life and not really connected to God like we have been in the past.
We remember what it’s like to be in full relationship with God and we long for that, we get hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for our spiritual connection with God.
Now you may be thinking: Hey James, what if I don’t feel separated from God but am consistently living my life full of His righteousness?
Well, if that’s the case I want to honor you. It’s not always easy to do this on a regular basis.
It might be easy to think that because you’re already seeking God’s righteousness first and foremost, have found it, and you’re embracing it in your life, you don’t need to pursue it anymore. You’re not hungry for it because you feel filled up full with God’s righteousness. If you’ve just eaten a big meal how can you be hungry?
How does Jesus’s beatitude apply to you?
This is really a good question? If you’re not hungry, you’re not hungry.
If this is the case, does that mean Jesus’s encouragement to be hungry and thirsty for righteousness doesn’t apply to you?
Over the years, I have known several people who, to me, were the epitome of living God’s righteousness in everything they said and did. It would never occur to me that they could be hungry and thirsty for something they had an abundance of.
But from their perspective, they were always hungry for more of God’s righteousness and all His qualities and attributes. They knew they always needed to experience God’s nature and presence in their lives.
I think this is what Jesus might be referring to in the Lord’s Prayer when he tells us to ask God
Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11 NIV
Just as we need daily food to eat, we need spiritual nourishment every day.
Jesus’s blessing on those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness
So let’s come back to what Jesus said about seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Why is that important? And how do we do it?
On the surface, Jesus said the immediate result of doing this is that we’ll have everything we need humanly, food, clothing, and whatever else it might be.
But Jesus often used human scenarios to illustrate deeper spiritual ideas. It’s not just that seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness will provide you with all your needs for food and clothing. There’s so much more to life than just having all your human needs met.
Jesus is also saying that when you seek God first, when you’re hungry and thirsty for righteousness, you will be supplied with so much more than just enough food to eat and clothes to wear.
You’ll experience life on a much deeper spiritual level of being in communion with God, being conscious of His love and presence. Having the literal food and clothing you need are metaphors for God giving you everything you need spiritually, satisfying that hunger and thirst for things of the Spirit.
What to do when you’re hungry and thirsty for righteousness
So when you’re hungry and thirsty for righteousness, what do you do? How do you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Do you just sit around and wait for God to provide a spiritual banquet for you
It’s really about being connected with God, being in spiritual communion with Him on a regular basis. There are lots of ways to do this. The most obvious answer is to pray. But I don’t mean just to repeat a bunch of words you memorized, or telling God your problems, or what you want. One of the most important aspects of effective prayer is listening to what God is telling you.
It usually helps to be in a quiet place where you can concentrate and be still so you can hear God speaking to you. This isn’t always necessary. I’ve heard God’s voice in a busy parking lot tell me exactly where to look when I had lost my keys.
But I love to sit in my prayer chair when the house is totally quiet, ask God questions, and write down His responses in my journal. If you’re not keeping a journal or record of what God is saying to you, I highly recommend it. You can go back and read what you wrote and be inspired all over again.
Ways to whet your appetite for God’s righteousness
Another way to satisfy your hunger and thirst for righteousness is to study to Bible, to dig into it for answers to your questions, for inspiration, and guidance.
It can also be very helpful to be part of a community of spiritually like-minded people you can share ideas with, ask support from, and be supportive of in their spiritual growth.
And there’s something to be aware of that sometimes keeps us from feeling hungry and thirsty for righteousness, from seeking God’s kingdom. It’s when you’ve done something wrong and haven’t repented, when you haven’t obeyed God’s commandments, or not followed the teachings of Jesus, when you’ve hurt someone, when your ego has reacted, or anything else that makes you feel unworthy or uninterested in God. You have a bad taste in your mouth from something you said or did, and you don’t feel in the least hungry and thirsty for righteousness.
If you ever find yourself in that frame of mind, it’s time for a piece of humble pie. It’s hard for the ego, but easy for the heart to turn away from these negative attitudes of guilt and perhaps unworthiness and turn back to God.
I’m going t say that again: It’s hard for the ego, but it’s easy for the heart to turn away from these negative attitudes of guilt and perhaps unworthiness and turn back to God.
Sing some hymns
When I have messed up, made some serious mistakes, or said or done something unloving, it sometimes takes me a little while to rekindle my hunger and thirst for the things of God. It helps to read the Bible and pray.
But something that often helps the most is to start singing some hymns. The first one or two usually just come across as words, but the more I sing, the more God touches my heart and renews that desire to know God and seek first His kingdom.
Jesus’s blessing for you
The blessing of being hungry and thirsty for righteousness is the fulfillment of Jesus’s promise that you will be filled. Filled with what? With God’s righteousness, with God’s nature.
Paul puts it this way:
I pray that he [God] may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19 CSB
When you are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, and do whatever you can to satisfy this hunger, you will be filled with “all the fullness of God.”
There is nothing that can be more fulfilling, more rewarding, more satisfying than this. This is Jesus’s promise to you.
And what happens when you experience and are filled with this fullness of God? You can’t keep it to yourself. You will be blessed and your light will shine and become a blessing to everyone you come in contact with.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Photo Credit:
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by learning to think, pray, and love like Jesus. Contact him here.
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Bible References
Matthew 5:6 NIV
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Matthew 6:25, 26, 31-33 NIV
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:11 NIV
11 Give us today our daily bread.
Ephesians 3:16-19 CSB
16 I pray that he [God] may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,
19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
