The hungry and thirsty (Matt 5:6)

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


Luke 6:21  "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. 


The desire to be righteous encompasses all kinds of things... the desire to for living in personal integrity, the desire for justice in the world, the desire to be in right relationships with God and others.

By looking at other things that Jesus said during his ministry, we get a glimpse of how this hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled in God's Kingdom.  In John 6, Jesus described himself as food: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." In John 4, Jesus tells the woman at the well, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."

Who describes themselves as food and water? Strange!  Yet, it is through Jesus - that the desire for righteousness is filled.  Through his death and resurrection where we are forgiven and cleansed.  And then given the power of the Holy Spirit to follow in his way.

So how does this affect our lives today?  For one thing, we should crave being right with God and others! Therefore we should seek it.  For another, while we may see glimpses of righteousness in this world, we also see a great void of righteousness.  And yet, we have hope that through Jesus, in his kingdom, one day righteousness will be a reality.

So with courage and hope, we seek to live in right relationship with God and others.