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

We can all relate to “hunger” and “thirst” because we have all been hungry and thirsty. Some are extreme cases. I remember reading, in one such case, about some Navy airmen whose plane went down at sea. They managed to get into a life raft but were lost at sea for many days. They knew the old saw, “Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink” but after several days without a drink one of the men gave in and began gulping down the salty seawater. Unfortunately, it could not satisfy his thirst and he did not survive.

Most of us have never been that thirsty or hungry, but we can all remember having a good meal and we can remember how satisfying a good meal can be. But no matter how good the meal and no matter how satisfying it is, we know that the satisfaction doesn’t last. It is only temporary; we get hungry again. No matter how much we eat, and no matter how much we drink we will always get hungry and thirsty again.

By contrast, in the verse above, when Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled,” he’s talking about a satisfaction that never diminishes, but only keeps building. It’s cumulative. As we continue to hunger and thirst for righteousness, we’ll continually be more satisfied spiritually. And one chapter later, in Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us that if we seek first (i.e., hunger and thirst for) his kingdom and his righteousness we can trust him to take care of everything else.

Spiritually, we need to avoid pursuing things that can never truly satisfy, remembering that Jesus alone has living water; he alone is the bread of life.

Are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness?