Sundays with Kristi - Blessed: Hunger and Thirst

How focused is a thirsty man in the desert on finding water?

Before jumping into our devotion of the day, I do want to say Happy Father’s Day to the men out there. I hope that each person will take the time to acknowledge and thank those wonderful men in our lives who have provided examples for us to look up to throughout the years. I pray that this day will be especially blessed for you.

We’ve been going through the Beatitudes over the last several weeks. You can find the previous studies by clicking on the “Sunday” tab above to see where we’ve been. Today, we’re talking about hunger and thirst.

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

Hunger and Thirst
I think this is such a great picture that God has given us. Most of us like to eat. I know that I like to eat. Granted, I’m not much of a cook myself. I just never really found a lot of enjoyment in the process of cooking, but even so, I like to eat.

However, this verse isn’t exactly talking about eating. It’s talking about being hungry and thirsty. What happens when we get hungry or thirsty? Well, from a biologic standpoint, our body starts sending us signals that we need to eat or drink. Our stomach starts to rumble and churn and our sense of smell is heightened (Have you ever walked through a grocery store on an empty stomach? I’ve been tempted to buy all kinds of things I normally wouldn’t just because everything smells wonderful!). We start to yearn for food. Our mind starts to think about food and water. We start to dwell on how to get food and what is involved with getting food. We hunger for it. If we go long enough without eating food or drinking, our bodies will stop working properly. We’ll notice changes in our vision and our ability to do physical activity. All our normal functions will start to slow down or stop. We could pass out, develop a multitude of serious medical conditions, and eventually, if we go long enough without food or drink, we will die.

Righteousness
I must admit, the description in the previous paragraph didn’t really end on a high note. What would it be like to be that desperate, that single-focused, that goal-oriented knowing that if you don’t get food or water soon you are on the cusp of dying? That is the type of single minded focus that God wants us to have regarding His righteousness. What is righteousness? Being right with God and doing the right that God has for us to do. Are we so focused with urgency on being righteous in every area of our life? Do we make our decisions on daily decisions based on this level of intensity for doing and being right with God? Are we hungering and thirsting after righteousness?

Satisfied
God has again promised blessing for the person who has that level of focus and intensity toward the right things of God. What is that blessing? Satisfaction! Have you had that feeling of complete satisfaction following a meal? Not that overly-full, bloated feeling that tends to accompany Thanksgiving dinner, for example, but that full, satisfied, comfortable, fulfilled feeling following a delicious meal. That feeling, as wonderful as it is, is just a pale comparison to the satisfaction that God provides when we are hungering and thirsting for the righteousness of God.

What are you hungering and thirsting for? What are you seeking whole-heartedly with the focus of man in the desert seeking water? Nothing except the righteousness of God will provide the blessing of satisfaction. Everything else in life will leave you wanting more. Jesus promised that to the Samaritan woman in John 4:13-14.

“Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

How have you hungered and thirsted for God’s righteousness? How has God satisfied you?

RESPONSE:
Father, I love You and I will seek after you with a single-minded intensity of a dying man seeking a morsel of bread or cup of water. I know that only You can provide the satisfaction that I seek.

Kristi Burchfiel, Christian devotional author and speaker
Living in the World – Living out the Word
Check out my daily devotions either on my blog or on my Facebook page

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