Jump Start # 154

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst or righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”

  Each of the beatitudes show a condition, generally of the heart and then a resulting blessing that follows. There are common words found in each of these beatitudes, for instance: they are begin with “blessed are…”  and then after stating a specific condition, each of them say, “for they shall…”

  Our beatitude today is about drive and ambition. We see this in sports when an athlete gets his tired body up out of bed and goes running early in the morning. He really doesn’t feel like doing it, but he is driven. He has a goal in mind. We see that with a student who wants to get his degree from a university. He takes all the classes he can, even during the summer months because he is driven.

  This beatitude is not about ambition in general, but a desire for the spiritual and more than that, a desire to be right with God. Righteousness is a state of being right. Remember, these beatitudes are in a specific order. These are not random,  nor can we pick and choose which ones we want. ALL of these are found in the citizen of the kingdom. They are so closely connected together that a person that does not have one of these, will not have any of them. The poor in spirit has led him to mourn that condition and make him meek or humble before God. He wants to be right. He hungers and thirsts to be right with God. He is done with self. He is done doing it his way, he is ready to do things God’s way.

  The spirit of this beatitude is sprinkled throughout the Psalms. There the illustration is used of a deer panting for water and the soul that longs for God. There is within our hearts a God shaped hole that only God can fill. Nothing else will satisfy nor fit. Millions deny this. They think they are happy with money, travel and possessing things. But that is superficial living.

  Here, the one who hungered to be right would be satisfied. Jesus would later say in this very sermon, “seek and ye shall find…”

  There is something special about being right. It doesn’t come from us, for we can’t live right very long. It comes through forgiveness from God. Hungering to be right really means hungering for God, His company, His presence, His approval, His fellowship. The proud will never make it. They first must become “poor in spirit” and then “mourn” and then become “meek.”

  God on your side is a wonderful concept. God as your friend. The desire to be with God. When a person has that, they will seek to follow God, obey His will, worship Him the way He directs, and long for that eternal home. We sing, “O to be with Thee, blessed Redeemer…” The heart of the citizen of the kingdom dwells upon the spiritual. The longing isn’t for things. The longing isn’t for prestige, but to be right with God. This heart wants to please God. As a little child wants to see the smile on his dad’s face, that is what is behind this beatitude. Enough of us. Let’s long for God. Let’s please God. Let’s get right. Let’s do right. Let’s be right.  Won’t that spirit cause a person to stop wrong? Won’t it make them apologize for hurting others? Won’t it cause them to put God to the forefront of all things.

  The person who lives this way is Blessed!

  Roger