I am a man who has lived in a very blessed situation where I can and have eaten at some of the finest establishments both in the United States and abroad. As a Cantonese American, I have had the best Chinese food in China, Hong Kong, Toronto, Vancouver, New York City, Las Angeles, and San Francisco. I say this for the reason of food does not last. No matter how costly the food, it does not last. I recognize much of the world lives on a dollar a day. It would appear unfair that some in the world have expensive meals prepared for them while many starve through the day. Food and water are important for survival. Wiersbe (2007) opens with a profound statement: "Food and water are necessities, not luxuries. This was especially true in Palestine in Jesus' day. Both food and water were used carefully and never wasted. The owning of a well and the cultivation of a field were matters of life and death. So when Jesus linked together hunger, thirst, and righteousness, He was telling the people that righteousness is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Our physical life depends upon food and water; our spiritual life depends upon righteousness" (p. 83). I had long thought righteousness was just one of those Christian words that no one really understood and was minimally significant. Here, the verse reminds us it is a necessity to hunger and thirst for it.
Wiersbe goes on to talk about the comparison between physical hunger and spiritual hunger. If one is not fed with the proper nutrient physically, one will get ill. Likewise, if one is not fed with the right spiritual nutrients, one will get spiritually ill. So then the question becomes what are we filling ourselves with spiritually? What are we hungering for? The concepts of malnourishment, obesity, and food poison apply as much to our spiritual health as it does to our physical health. If a Christian says they do not hunger for the things of God, this would be highly problematic. "What are the hungers in your life? What are the longings that you yearn to have satisfied? If our desires are apart from the will of God, to satisfy them means disappointment and judgment. If they are in the will of God, to satisfy them means enjoyment, growth, and fulfillment" (p. 86). There was a time when I once thought satisfaction and fulfillment can be found in this world. There is a line in a movie many years ago where a mafia member said that you first get the money, then you get the girl, and then you get the power. These three things would appear to bring happiness and fulfillment. Money, women, and power are not in themselves inherently bad. However, if one spends his entire life going after money, women, and power, then it will be ultimately empty. I can see now more than before that a house, a PHD, an attractive wife is what we are living for to chase after, will greatly disappoint. So what exactly is it that we need to hunger for and thirst for? "The words holy and whole belong to the same family. To be holy involves wholeness. Sin divides and destroys, but holiness unites and builds. Holiness is a basic attribute of God: "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). When you hunger for holiness, you hunger for God. "My soul thirsts for God!" And to have God in your life means wholeness; He puts everything together. 'Through Him all things are held together" (Colossians 1:17" (p. 87). It cannot be more simple than this. Theologically speaking, we are to hunger for God. However, the text uses the word righteousness. Holiness and righteousness are similar terms. Wiersbe goes on to describe this term also. "To be righteous means to be right—right with God, right wit}, self, and right with others. When you hunger and thirst for God you are causing the inner person to function as God made it to function. Your spiritual senses are exercised and developed (Hebrews 5:14)- "Train yourself to be godly" (1 Timothy 4:7). There is a unity to the life of the person whose deepest desire is to know and please God and to enjoy Him. Instead of running from one substitute to another, seeking inner satisfaction, that person says, "All my fountains are in you" (Psalm 87:7). "Lord, to whom shall we go! You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68)" (p. 88). Wiersbe goes on to illustrate this with the prodigal son from Luke 15. The younger son went off in the far country to squander his inheritance on wild living. He ultimately was disappointed, homeless, and empty. When he recognized this, he went home to his father, everything was made whole. True happiness and fulfillment was when he hungered for being home.
Wiersbe goes on to discuss having the right view of sin and the right view of righteousness. The Pharisees had it wrong. They saw sin as the "do not" and righteousness as the "does. If this is one's system of holiness, there will be no happiness. Religion is based on rules. Christianity is based on a relationship with Christ. Religion ultimately will not satisfy. I will never know how much to do and feel so anxious about what I did wrong if my religion is based on rules. There is no freedom and individuality in rules. This is not to say that Christianity gives license to do whatever. If Christianity is a relationship with Christ, than I would live in a manner that keeps the closeness of that relationship. Likewise in a marriage, I would love my wife in such a way that prizes the relationship and values her.
So what is the promise? "They will be filled" is Christ's promise; that word filled carries with it a double meaning: "satisfied" and "controlled by." If we hunger and thirst after God's righteousness, then He will satisfy that hunger; and when He has satisfied it, we will discover that our lives are controlled by His righteousness in all that we do. Seeking to become like Him pleases both the Father and us. . . Holiness brings happiness not only by sparing us the pain of sin and its consequences but also by purifying our hearts and minds and giving us an appetite for the eternal. "And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness" (Psalm 17:15). As we become more like Christ, we share more of His joy" (p. 92). It sounds so simple. Hunger for God. Hunger after His righteousness. When we hunger after God and His righteousness He will fill us with Himself and we will be satisfied. This is worship at it's simplest description. A life controlled by worry does not have its affections on God.. In the middle section of Jesus' sermon on the mount He addresses worry, for such basic things such as even food and clothes. In today's terms this includes work and shelter. I just heard today in the news that HHP will cut 27,000 jobs. This is a lot of positions and a lot of people who will be jobless. Work is profoundly necessary to survive. I too at this moment worry about my current state of jobless. This chapter and this text reminds me to hunger after God and His righteousness. What about our daily needs? "All of God's blessings are the by-products of His righteousness. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). "All these things"—such as food, clothing, shelter, income, husband, wife. When we live for God's rule and God's righteousness in our lives, then we enjoy everything else.
There is no shortcut to happiness or holiness. We must begin with hunger—a hunger for holiness, a deep desire to be more like Christ. God promises to satisfy this hunger, and it is our responsibility to seek to develop this appetite for the righteousness of God. We are what we eat. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (p. 95)
Prayer:
Father, I worry. I worry about career and health and spouse and children. I worry because these basic needs in life are presently uncertain. Today, You have reminded me to hunger and thirst to be more like You and to set my attention and affection on You. Father, I pray that You grant me the wisdom and the ability to have the right perspective and feed on the right things. There is so much spiritual junk food in the world. Help me to find true spiritual nourishment.
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