Hungering for Righteousness

Want to be Happy? Be Hungry and Thirsty FOR The Right Things

Matthew 5:6

Jesus said "Ask, and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you." Why, because you can't have until you ask, you won’t find until you seek, and nothing will be opened unless you first knock.

Now we understand that Jesus' meaning was in spiritual terms, having prayer answered, but is this not also true of the flesh? If your flesh asks for something is there not a way for those desires to be fulfilled? If you seek after something in the flesh it will not take long to find it. If left to run its own course, the flesh will knock on all kinds of doors and have each of them opened easily.

This world tells us that the way to be truly happy is to ask, seek, and knock after the desires of the flesh. There's no reason we should do without anything, we have the whole world at our disposal. Jesus, however, says the way to happiness is to deny the flesh, and rather than to indulge in our desires we should indulge our spirit. Don't be rich by the world's standards, but be poor in spirit. Don't rejoice over our sin, but mourn over our need for forgiveness. Don't boast about our wealth or accomplishments but instead acknowledge God in all He's given us.

Verse 6 shows us that we must redirect our appetite if we wish to be happy, look with me…

Proposition: If you want to be happy then hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Interrogative: How is your appetite for righteousness?

TS: What do we see about having such spiritual appetite? First…

We Must Crave the Righteousness

The word translated hunger means just this, to crave something.

Have you ever had a craving for something? I.e. chocolate?

Nothing will satisfy that craving except whatever it is you're wanting *COLD STONE SUNDAY EVENING*

The word could also be translated as "famished" which means to be "extremely hungry” to be starving for food

Have you ever truly hungered after righteousness like this?

Do you crave those things which God craves?

DO you find yourself famished for the things of God?

How's your desire to attend church? *God didn’t send His Son to begin the church just so we could take it or leave it!

What about reading your Bible?

Prayer?

What do you hunger for?

Not only must we crave righteousness, but we must also…

Thirst for it as well

Consider the passages of Scripture which speak of being thirsty for spiritual truths and righteousness:

a. Isaiah 55:1-2

Isaiah 55:1–2 KJV 1900

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, And he that hath no money; Come ye, buy, and eat; Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness.

b. John 4:10-14

John 4:10–14 KJV 1900

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

c. Revelation 21:6

Revelation 21:6 KJV 1900

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

d. Revelation 22:17

Revelation 22:17 KJV 1900

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Can you truly say with David "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?"

Or with Job, "Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food."

What is that you desire to quench your thirst? Let me tell you, the world is full of substitutes, but only a desire to please God will satisfy.

If your desires are for spiritual righteousness, then this verse contains a wonderful promise which God will fulfill…

You will be filled

The word "filled" in this verse means to be satisfied

You will have just the right amount

There will be no desire for more

Since we're in America, and we love our big portions, there is another meaning of the same word: To gorge!

While a lifestyle of gluttony is sinful and frowned upon, for physical reasons, there is nothing wrong with "pigging out" on spiritual truth!

This is one "all you can eat buffet" which will never shut down

You can never have too much righteousness and God will allow you to go back as often as you wish!

Conclusion: What type of appetite do you have? Are you filling yourself with earthly, things which your flesh desires or are you concerned with filling yourself on righteousness?

The Bible teaches that all who will turn to Jesus Christ in faith will be given His righteousness. This is our position as children of God.

The Bible also teaches that we are to be filled with the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit, this is our practical duty, the way we ought to live our lives. We came to Christ to meet a need we could not attain on our own, now we must have a desire to live our lives in a way which reflects His holiness in and through us.

What's it going to be for you? I can't decide for you, and I certainly can't make you decide. The choice is up to you, will you hunger and thirst for righteousness or will you live and serve your flesh? Do you want to be happy? Then ask yourself, "How is my appetite?" “What am I craving?”