One time while we were traveling, my son Jesse told me that he was reading about the temptation of Christ. I asked, “What have you read so far?” He told me how Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones to bread. I then asked, “What did Jesus say in response.” Jesse answered, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”[1] I prodded him, “What did Jesus mean by that?” Jesse answered with such child-like confidence, “Of course, you would die if you only eat bread.”
Seriously, what Jesus meant was that if we need food for our physical survival, how much more the word of God for our spiritual survival. That is why Jesus declared, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”[2] The word “filled” means “satisfied.” This morning we will talk about “How to be Satisfied.”
First, we have to realize that we are “poor in spirit,” that is, we need God. Second we have to “mourn” or respond with repentance. That deals with our relationship with God. Then, we become “meek” or humble. That deals with our relationship with people. Then we “hunger and thirst for righteousness”.
In his message “How to be Hungry,” Dr. John MacArthur Jr. wrote, “Both hunger and thirst are intense desires. The concept Christ spoke of… was a more powerful concept in His culture than it is in ours. For the most part we don’t know what it really means to hunger or thirst. Most of us have never experienced a drought.”[3] But the original audience of Jesus knew what it really means to be hungry or famished and to be thirsty or parched or dehydrated. The word for “hunger” means “to famish” and the word “thirst” means “to parch” or “to long for ardently.” In short, to hunger and thirst means to crave intensely. To make it easy for us to remember, let us look at the acronym C-R-A-V-E.
“C” stands for CRAVE for the right thing. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” People crave for all the wrong things. We crave for power, money and attention. We are to crave for the right thing. In the Greek, there is an article before the word righteousness. We are not just to pursue any righteousness, not just the righteousness of men or of the world. We are to crave for “the righteousness” of God. Now what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness?
When we put our faith in our Lord as our Savior, we were made righteous. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”[4] The New Living Translation goes like this: “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” In Christ, we were made right with God. Technically, we call it “positional righteousness.” But that is not the righteousness that Jesus told us to hunger and thirst for.
What does it mean then to crave for righteousness? The Good News Bible goes like this: “Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires”. Your greatest desire is to follow the Lord. Technically, we call it “practical righteousness.”
Now, positional righteousness deals with who you are in Christ. Practical righteousness deals with what we do for Him. If we are made right with God, we will live right for God.
If a person claims to be a believer and yet he does not even have the desire to live for the Lord, we can actually doubt his claim that he is a believer. 1 John 3:6 says, “So everyone who lives in union with Christ does not continue to sin; but whoever continues to sin has never seen him or known him.”[5] So the question is, “Are we craving for the right thing? Do we hunger and thirst for righteousness?”
“R” stands for REPRIORITIZE your life. If we really crave for the right thing, we will make it our top priority. As I’ve said, we tend to crave for the wrong things. Now it is not a sin to work or earn money. But if we pursue money at the expense of our principles, when we compromise or pay bribes or cheat on our taxes to earn more, when we neglect our families or our health, then we got our priorities all wrong. We work to live, not live to work. That’s why the Lord Jesus said, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”[6] What does it mean to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness? The New Living Translation goes like this: “you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” Your life revolves around obeying God.
The Contemporary English Version says, “God blesses those people who want to obey him more than to eat or drink.” Eating and drinking are important for us physically. So also obeying God is important for us spiritually. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.”[7] The Message goes like this: “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started.” In other words, his food is to do what God wants![8] Let us ask ourselves, “How should we set our priorities right in order to do what God wants?”
The next point is connected to this. “A” stands for ABIDE in God’s will. To abide means to remain. When you say something is important, you make time for it. Someone said that if you say “I have no time,” you are actually saying “It is not my priority.” So, we have to make time and give effort in obeying the Lord.
The words “hunger and thirst for righteousness” are in the present tense. Literally, it can be translated “hungering and thirsting for righteousness”.[9] That means obedience is not just once in a while or once in a lifetime but a continuing process. We are to continue obeying God. Righteousness means “conformity to God’s will… a righteous person is one who lives in harmony with the will of God”.[10] So when we face important decisions, we have to keep on asking, “What does God want?”
Obeying God entails sacrifice. Thus, “V” stands for VOID anything that will hinder. Romans 6:12-13 commands us, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” I like the way the New Living Translation goes: “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires. Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.” What is it that is keeping us from obeying God? Are you becoming an instrument for obedience rather than disobedience? Is there anything or anyone that we should give up?
We are also encouraged in Hebrews 12:1, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Note that we have to throw off not just sin but also “everything that hinders”. Our choice is not just between good and evil but also between good and better and best. Something may not be sin but it may hinder us from obeying God. It may be something that is eating up our time and strength. But we are not fulfilling what God wants for our lives.
When we crave for the right thing, when we reprioritize our lives, when we abide in God’s will, when we void anything that hinders, then we can EXPECT God’s promise. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”[11] The word “satisfied” implies fully and completely satisfied. In a sense, it means filled to the brim. You desire righteousness and the Lord will grant it to you. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” That’s why The Message translated Matthew 5:6 this way: “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.” If you really want to obey God, He will give you the strength to do just that. Brothers and sisters, do we really crave to obey God?
CRAVE for the right thing.
REPRIORITIZE your life.
ABIDE in God’s will.
VOID anything that will hinder.
EXPECT God’s promise.
Let us pray…
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[1]Matthew 4:4. All Bible verses are from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.
[2]5:6.
[3]Tape GC 2201
[4]2 Corinthians 5:21.
[5]Good News Bible.
[6]Matthew 6:31-33.
[7]John 4:34. The New English Translation (NET) Bible.
[8]Contemporary English Version.
[9]Analytical-Literal Translation.
[10]Thomas Constable, Notes on Matthew (2000 Edition).
[11]The NET Bible.
