- Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
- Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
- Blessed are the Meek
- Blessed are Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
- Blessed are the Merciful
- Blessed are the Pure in Heart
- Blessed are the Peacemakers
- Blessed are the Persecuted
In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount with what has become known as the “Beatitudes.” These verses are statements about certain people who are “blessed” or “happy,” and they show the process of transforming from an unsaved enemy of God into a fully devoted follower of Christ. This movement goes beyond salvation and on to discipleship. It’s a pursuit of holiness.
In the fourth Beatitude, Jesus says:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)
Jesus is talking about the hunger of someone who is starving for food. It’s the thirst of someone who is walking across the desert without a canteen. The person who has that same kind of desire for righteousness is the one who’ll be happy.
The ugly truth about humanity is that each of us has sinned, each of us has chosen our way over God’s way, and that sin has separated us from God. For eternity. The only way to have fellowship with a perfect, holy God is to be perfect and holy. We certainly aren’t holy, and we’ve already blown the opportunity to be perfect.
But God had a plan. There is a way for us to be righteous, for us to have fellowship with God.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
That word “justified” means “to be made right with God.” It’s God declaring us to be righteous. But how can God declare an unholy, unrighteous person to be righteous? The answer is found in Romans 3:22, which says that we experience “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” In other words, we are declared to be righteous through our faith in what Christ did for us.
The way God provided is not by us working to be righteous, but by trusting in what Jesus Christ did for us! And what did he do for us?
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. (Romans 3:25a, NIV).
Jesus, God the Son, took our sins on himself. All of God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus on the cross, and he took the penalty that you and I deserved to pay. That penalty is death. Someone is going to have to die for your sins. It’s either going to be you, or it’s going to be Jesus. Jesus saw you from that cross. He knew you and all of your faults, but he loved you and gladly died on that cross to pay your penalty. All you have to do is accept what he’s done for you, accept his forgiveness, and you will be declared “righteous.”
If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, there’s only one way to be declared righteous, and that’s through Christ. You will never experience true happiness apart from a relationship with God. And you can’t have a relationship with God without trusting in Jesus and what he’s done for you.
Jesus, though, is talking about much more than a desire to be made right with God. True happiness comes from a desire to live for God in a manner worthy of his calling. Those who are blessed are those who are always growing in their walk with God because they hunger and thirst for that growth.
There’s no step-by-step plan for a pursuit of holiness. But there are some things we can do to help us to live the righteousness that God has declared us to have.
First, if you want to be a happy, growing Christian, you must set aside time alone with God on a regular basis. Spend that time in prayer, in reading the Bible, in listening to God. I wrote an entire series on this, including thoughts on reading the Bible and spending time in prayer. You can find that here.
Second, depend on the Holy Spirit. You can’t possibly live a life of holiness without the power of the Holy Spirit. If you’re a believer, you have God’s Spirit in you. But if you’re trying to be in charge of your life, then he won’t be. If you hunger and thirst for the life that God is calling you to, kick yourself off the throne of your life and allow the Holy Spirit to be king. That takes faith, and it means total surrender to your Father.
In order for the Spirit of God inside you to lead you step by step, day in and day out, you have to completely surrender all of your wants, all of your desires, everything, to him. Once you understand that you are absolutely dependent on him and can do nothing apart from him, then he can begin a great work in your life. The Holy Spirit who is in you is the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. That same power is available to you! All you have to do is surrender to him, put your focus on him, and follow. And when you fail, accept his forgiveness and mercy (1 John 1:9).
Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you long to live the life that God has called you to? You can be declared righteous by God if you accept the gift of his Son. Then you can begin the life-long process of living up to that righteousness by surrendering every part of your life to him. Every part.
Those that do this, Jesus says, shall have their hunger and their thirst satisfied.