Starving

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

STARVING

Matt 5:6

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

NIV

If we were stranded upon an island filled with nothing but beaches of sand surrounded with salt water, with nothing to eat nor fresh water to drink, we would understand these words hunger and thirst. But in our modern era and the close proximity of supermarkets there may never be a time when we actually need to go hungry or become thirsty. But there is a pending danger coming to all mankind if they lack the righteousness of God, Jesus. This danger will be far worse than being stranded upon that desert island, it is first the pits of hell and then the lake of burning sulfur. If anything, that should inspire one to thirst and hunger for the righteousness of God, Jesus.

1 Cor 1:30

 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

NIV

This was written before by the prophets about Jesus being the righteousness of God and therefor is our righteousness. In and of ourselves we have no righteousness and as such we have doomed ourselves to perish. But if we thirst and hunger for Jesus we will be filled. It is a desperate act to search for food and drink upon that desert island, a clawing in the sand in hopes to find something to satisfy the hunger that gnaws at our inners or a spring of fresh water to quench the dryness that is overtaking us. This should be the desperate act in which we should seek Jesus. Of course we have already received him into our lives and thus this thirsting and hungering need not be a part of our character or attitude anymore, for we have already been filled. But should that be? Should not we continue to thirst and hunger for his righteousness within us? What does it mean to be filled? If we were to partially fill a glass with water, which would leave room for something else. But if that glass were totally filled to the brim, there is no room for anything else. Then could we say that we are not truly filled to the brim with the righteousness of God if we still seek after things of the world to fill our wants and desires. Again, it is not that God would have us go without these things, but we are to seek after God, after Jesus, after righteousness first.

Matt 6:24-34

24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

NIV

We cannot be filled with the kingdom of God and with the material wealth of this world at the same time, nor can we share them or mix them together in our glass, our being. It is one or the other and for us, it needs to be the kingdom, the righteousness of God, Jesus. As the song writer puts it:

To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus, all I ask – to be like Him, All through life’s journey from earth to glory, all I ask- to be like him.

Is that all we ask? Do we thirst for more of Jesus? Do we hunger for more of him? Do we truly want to be filled to the brim with Jesus? Have we become distracted from this hunger and thirst for him by other things, trying to satisfy, to fill our being with them? It is a matter of priorities. Seek first the kingdom of God. First things first. Fill our being with Jesus. Fill it to the brim, then he will make our glass larger is a sense and add the things of the world we need. But our priority should be to desire to be more like him, to be filled, to thirst and hunger for him, as if we were starving.