Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 

Mathew 5:6

 The image of hunger is one of a lion that has been starving for many days and will stop at nothing to get its prey, or the deer that pants for streams of water after being chased by a starving lion. Jesus was saying that those who passionately hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. What are some of the thoughts on righteousness in the Bible? 

Christ is our righteousness. It is through him that we have access to our Father in heaven. In Psalm 1, the righteous delight in obeying and meditating on the laws of the Lord. It further says that the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the ways of the wicked will eventually lead them away from Him. To give generously to the poor is considered as righteousness (2Corinthians 9:9). Righteousness is living a life that is holy and pleasing in the sight of God. Abraham had faith in God and this was considered as righteousness. It was his simple trust in God. 

 In Luke 4:1-4 we learn that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit when he returned from the Jordan, where he ate nothing for 40 days. He must have been ravenously hungry when the devil asked him to turn the stone to bread and eat. But Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone. Did he mean that though we need bread to live, we also need the fruits of the Holy Spirit? 

 The deer that drinks from the cool streams of water after being pursued by his predator, finds rest and comfort in the streams. Do we not find ourselves in similar situations in life, when we are under tremendous pressure from different directions and finally reach a point where we have really dried up inside? Do you at times feel the desperate need to escape and spend time alone? Christ tried his best to balance time spent with the people, his disciples, and with God. 

 The righteous are described in Psalm 1 as trees planted by streams of water. Are our lives drinking from these streams of the living word of God and feeding off His life giving bread? To be filled is to be assured of the presence of God and to find the comfort that all our needs have been met. Peace and joy comes from knowing that we doing all we can to lead a righteous life through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are comforted in the assurance that God provides for all our needs. To be filled with righteousness is to have the absolute knowledge that it can never be taken away from us.