Hungering & Thirsting after Righteousness

Matthew 5:6

Each of the beatitudes we have looked at has been a pearl in the beautiful ornament of grace in the life of the believer. Christ has been busy describing the character of His people. Each of these qualities is a result of His grace working in the believers’ life. The continuation of each quality proves His grace is ongoing in the process of sanctification.

We came into the kingdom as poor and bankrupt sinners. We continue to recognize that we have no goodness on our own.

We came into the kingdom mourning over our sin. We continue to mourn over our sin.

We came into the kingdom in meekness. We continue in meekness knowing that we do not deserve the grace we have received.

The fourth beatitude is no different. We come into the kingdom hungering and thirsting for righteousness. We continue to live with an increasing appetite for the righteousness of God.

In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...” The context of this command was a rebuke to those who make this world their priority. He warned “You cannot serve God and mammon” (6:24). The priority of a believer is righteousness. The believer recognizes that if he gains the whole world yet loses his soul, he has profited nothing. Therefore, kingdom people desire above all to be pleasing to God by possessing righteousness.

Hunger and thirst are appetites that a person must have to live. Our bodies need food and drink. Without either of these we would die. Therefore, God has given us two things to ensure that we eat and drink.

1) He has given us the desire for food and drink. Our bodies crave it. If we go long without either food or water soon our bodies will begin to react. We will experience weakness and discomfort. Once we consume something, that weakness and discomfort is gone. If a person does not desire food/drink for a reasonable amount of time, the body is sick.

2) He has given us a delight for food and drink. People enjoy food/drink. God has created us with a wonderful set of taste buds. Because of this we enjoy what we consume. This is part of God’s grace. It is of the Lord that we find joy in what we consume (Eccl. 2:24).

To ensure that we live, God has provided us with food/drink. He has given us the desire for it and the ability to delight in it. It is also necessary for us to have an appetite for righteousness if we want to live spiritually. God gives the kingdom person the desire and delight in righteousness that he needs to ensure spiritual life.

He gives the believer the desire for righteousness. Unredeemed humanity is spiritually dead because of sin (Eph. 2:1). In this state our appetite is not focused on righteousness. We focus on pleasing the flesh (Rom. 8:5, Gal. 5:17). When we enter the kingdom through the new birth, God changes our appetite. We now have an appetite for righteousness.

He gives the believer a delight in righteousness. As kingdom people, not only do we partake of righteousness, but we enjoy it. In fact, unrighteousness will now be displeasing to us. We will continue to pursue righteousness for the same reason we continue to eat and drink. We enjoy the taste of righteousness. No matter how much or how often we eat, we always get hungry again. In the same way, no matter how much righteousness we experience, we continue to want more. Righteousness is as joyful to the believer as eating is.

Kingdom people are starving for righteousness. The words here are not meant to describe a person who merely missed breakfast. They describe a person who is famished. The hunger and thirst spoken of here is an intense need and desire for relief of starvation and dehydration. Very few of us have experienced this in the natural realm. Our kids cry out “I’m hungry, I’m thirsty!” We give them a sandwich and a glass of juice. The sandwich is left half eaten and the cup half full. To say the least, we use the terms very loosely. Those who lived in Jesus day knew what it was like to be literally starving and thirsting. It was a desert region and was no stranger to drought and famine. We can get a couple of truths from this analogy.

Starving people are single minded. Suppose you encountered a man in the desert who was dying of thirst. Let’s say that you had two things to offer him. You had $10,000 and you had a gallon of cold water. If this man could only choose one of the items, which would he choose? He would choose the water of course. The water is the only thing that would quench his thirst. The only thing attractive to a starving person is food/drink. So it is when God strikes a soul with the reality of their spiritual starvation. Regardless of what the world offers them, they come to Christ for righteousness. He is the only One that can quench their thirst. He is the only One attractive to them.

Starving people will seek for food. A starving person will not just sit down and die. They will venture out in search of food. It has been said that when the prodigal was hungry, he took a job feeding swine. When he was starving, he returned to his father. Hunger may cause us to seek food in places we may be ashamed of. Starvation will urge us to return to our Father for the food that satisfies. God makes us aware of our great need so that we will seek Him.

Kingdom people continue to hunger and thirst after righteousness. The initial thing that we want in coming to Christ is righteousness. Conviction shows us that we are in danger of judgment. Reason and Scripture teach us that we cannot enter heaven without righteousness (1 Peter 1:15-16). The Bible describes righteousness in three different ways:

Positional righteousness. This comes when the new birth comes. It is an imputation of the righteousness of Christ into the life of the believer. With this we can stand before God in the beauty of Christ’s perfection (Rom. 5:19, 10:3-42 Cor. 5:21).

Perfect righteousness. This comes when we meet the Lord. We will be transformed and no longer even be able to be tempted to sin again (1 John 3:2).

Practical righteousness. This is the righteous life that believers live as a result of salvation (1 John3:3).

The true believer longs for all three aspects. He longs to stand in righteousness before God, be transformed to be with God & to walk pleasingly before God on this earth. If a person does not desire to walk in righteousness on this earth it says much about him. The righteousness in us and our desire to be completely free from sin will compel us to pursue righteousness on this earth as well.

Righteousness does not have to be taught any more than hunger must be taught. Babies come into the world with an appetite. They do not have to be taught to eat. In the same way, believers are born into the kingdom with a hunger for righteousness. They will naturally desire and pursue it (1 Peter 2:2). A person who claims to know God but has no desire to live righteously should be concerned. The great preacher Thomas Watson once said, “He has most need of righteousness that least wants it”. The true believer continues to battle sin and follow after holiness. He does this simply because he is hungry and thirsty for it. If we are not pursuing righteousness on this earth, we are most likely not hungry for it.

Kingdom people will be filled. It is interesting to note what kingdom people come to God looking for. They are not looking for wealth, purpose in life, happiness, etc. They are looking for righteousness. Jesus promises them that they will be filled. Christ will satisfy their hunger with His own righteousness. There is a group of people who want more than anything to stand righteously before the Lord. To those people Christ has promised “they shall be filled”. They shall be filled with righteousness that is not their own. Christ will pour Himself into these people.

God is the great satisfier of the longing soul (Psalm 23:1, 107:9, John 4:14, 6:35). The believer can stand in the assurance that faith brings. We can know that because of the sacrifice of Christ and our repentance and faith we stand justified before God (Rom. 5:1). On this earth we will continue to experience a level of hunger and thirst for righteousness. We are righteous at the present time, yet we are aware that there is a level of righteousness that we can only attain when we meet Christ. Until then we have the promise of Revelation 7:16-17 “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore…For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.” If we will seek righteousness, we can be certain that God will satisfy our desire.