Matthew 5:6
“Blessed are they, which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
What is the meaning of hunger and thirst?
Hunger and thirst are strong words, meaning an ardent, eager, famishing, all consuming craving, desire and passion of the soul for God and his righteousness.
Psalms often portrays the picture of man craving and desiring more of God. Psalm 84: 1-2: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty, my soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord. Psalm 143:6: My Soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
To hunger and thirst after God's righteousness suggests that your soul cannot live without it. It is your spiritual nourishment and necessary for your growth as a Christian.
What is the meaning of righteousness?
The word righteousness comes from Greek word dikaiosyne, meaning rightness, quality of rightness or justice.
The key here is to understand that the discussion is about God's righteousness--not just righteousness. God's righteousness promotes justice, not fairness. This is hard for the carnal mind to understand. Think about your child. Often we tell them something that is just, but they will retort, "That's not fair!" We are not longing for fair, because if we lived in fair God's grace and mercy wouldn't apply to us. If we lived in fair favor wouldn't make a way for us. God's word makes every situation just--in other words, what the devil meant for bad, God worked it out for my good. That's just, that's righteous. I wasn't supposed to still be here. I wasn't supposed to be blessed and highly favored. I wasn't supposed to have the family I have or the education, or drive the car I drive or live the way I live, but because of God's righteousness, He moved me from where I was and placed me where I am and the good news is that as long as I hunger and thirst after His righteousness, He's not through with me yet! There is more, more, more!
What are the things, people hunger and thirst for?
People hunger and thirst for
Power
Fame
Money
Beauty
Sexuality
There are, however, those who long for God. These are the people who are not just interested or satisfied by worldly things or pleasures. They are the seekers. It is often human tendency to neglect the spiritual needs. But these are the people who yearn after God. Who have learned that they cannot live without Him. There's no way they'll ever doubt Him. These are those who sacrifice to prove that their everyday life is Christianity--not just Sundays, but they want to draw closer to Him every single day.
What does it mean to ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’?
It is not seeking self-righteousness, but it is the righteousness that comes from God. It is to depend, not on our own will-power to achieve it but upon God. Seeking after God's righteousness is something that we all can achieve. Romans 3:21-22 But now righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who will believe.
So then, righteousness of God is available through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe in Him. And those who will seek him, will find him and will be filled.
Jesus himself claimed to be the one who will quench the thirst. John 7:37: If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
Remember the woman at the well, Jesus asked her for a drink, and she thought she knew what to expect next. She thought to herself, this guy shouldn't even be talking to me, but look at him, he needs something from me. But Jesus wanted to get something to her. How many of us are starving spiritually because we have mistaken who Jesus is and what He wants to do in our lives? Truly His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He wants to give us a drink of His righteousness so that we will never thirst again, just like the woman at the well. His compassion and love for us keeps Him reaching out to us. Let's reach out to Him in our worship, in our quiet time of prayer, in our daily living, on the car ride to work; reach out to Him during your work day, at the grocery store, hunger for Him and His righteousness so that His righteousness becomes our own and His ways become our ways and His will becomes our will. The reward? We will be filled!
Reference: http://www.bibleseo.com/
