What Do You Hunger And Thirst For? Series

October 05, 2024

What images come to your mind when you hear the 2 words hunger and thirst? Are they pleasant images? Probably not.

• Hunger, by definition, is a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat.

• Thirst, by definition, is a feeling of needing or wanting to drink something.

Esau was “starving” so he willingly sold his birthright for some food.

Was he really in danger of starving to death?

No, but his need to satisfy his current condition drove him to a rash act.

The Children of Israel were hungry and thirsty so they decided it was better to return to Egypt than to risk further discomfort.

Were they really in danger of dying from lack of food and water?

No, but their need to satisfy their current condition drove them to seriously contemplate a return to slavery.

For most of us true hunger and thirst remain just words.

None of us have gone weeks without food or days without water.

However, in Jesus’ day, that would have been a very different reality.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of hunger and thirst but threw in an unexpected twist:

• Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for ……… righteousness, for they will be filled.

The people who heard these words knew through experience the hunger and thirst of which Jesus spoke.

Jesus applies the same intensity – that of survival – to someone who is hungry and thirsty for righteousness.

Someone who is desperate for something only God can provide.

The Righteousness Jesus is talking about is not just obedience or doing the right thing – it’s about being in a right relationship with God.

The Psalmist said it best, when he wrote, “As the deer pants for water so my soul longs for thee oh God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God.” -- Psalm 42:1-2

Most people when they are satisfied no longer crave food or water, which is one of the reasons they tell you to go grocery shopping AFTER you have eaten.

“I’m so full, I couldn’t eat another bite.”

When it comes to your relationship with God, you are promised fullness, yet you crave more.

No matter how much you love him, no matter how good the relationship is, you still want more – you still long for more.

Not because the well is dry, but because you simply can’t get enough.

In other words, “Blessed is the person who is always hungering and always thirsting to be in a right relationship with God…..”

Let’s turn to Scripture:

• Matthew 13:44 - "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

• Matthew 13:45-46 - "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

That is the passion of hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

It is a willingness to give up everything to have it – no matter the earthly cost.

The Rich Young Ruler obeyed all the laws and did all the right things, but he sensed there was more.

He went to Jesus and asked, “How do I inherit eternal life?”

Part of the young man’s confusion lie in the fact that he thought he could obtain eternal life apart from a relationship with God.

He thought it was rule keeping that would get him there and he expected that Jesus would just give him one more rule to add to the list, so Jesus surprised him with his response: “Go sell all that you have and give to the poor.” – Luke 18:18-23

In essence Jesus was saying: “Your wealth is a barrier to a right relationship with God. Which one do you want more?”

The Bible tells us that the young man went away sorrowfully.

Pursuing the things of this world or trying to be right with God by your own effort is like a baby sucking on a pacifier.

It gives a pretense of great satisfaction but never truly satisfies the hunger and thirst of the soul.

Righteousness is a matter of the heart.

How badly do you want to be in a right relationship with God?

Do you want it as much as a starving man wants food or as much as a dehydrated man wants a drink of water?

For too long we have been pacified by the pretense of holiness while inside our hearts are crying for something more.

It is my prayer that each one of us will cease to be satisfied and pacified and that we will begin to crave a deep and transformative relationship with God.

Psalm 42:1 - As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.