Page Two: “Blessed Are They Which Hunger” 07/08/2012
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Folks, God’s provision of blessedness could never be rooted in what we have to offer to God. If it was, who do you think would be a candidate for blessedness? Would you? Would I? Would God be like the store clerk waiting for you to pay before He granted you His blessedness?
So, God is calling us to Himself when we today still hear Jesus say “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” He’s still calling us to Himself. Let’s begin today with the promise “for they shall be filled.” First, the LORD’s desire is the same here for everyone. His desire is that we be filled. “Filled” simply means this: “satisfied.” Elsewhere in the Bible it’s translated “sustenance.” Do you remember the story in Genesis when a famine had stricken the land of Canaan and the family of Jacob had no food? The only place where food could be found was in Egypt. Here’s what we read in Acts 7:11 “Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.” Sustenance we can understand. Sustenance means we are taking in something that sustains us; something that supports life and health. We can easily see that Jesus means “nourished.” So, what He’s offering; what God offers us, is spiritual sustenance. “For they shall be filled.” Now, just ask yourself, what supports you spiritually? What sustains you spiritually? What nourishes your spirit? That, folks, is what Jesus offers in this beatitude. First, the promise, “they shall be filled.” Second, the means to the end. There’s one change that is the most worthwhile change. And this change will bring you this sustenance Jesus refers to here. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.” The LORD knows the exact things we so often hunger and thirst after. He knows the hunger in the heart of man. Someone has said that God put that hunger there so that He and He alone can fill it. The heart of man, since the very days of the Garden of Eden, searches for something to satisfy that hunger. And mankind has tried this in a whole lot of ways; and many of them have little or nothing to do with the One Who is most able to supply it. |
The LORD Jesus says the only means to the end of finding this sustenance is to change that hunger into something well worth hungering after.
Think about your own quests to fill your innermost hungers. Where have they led you? What have they offered you? And have you been fulfilled by them? You see, there is a path towards spiritual sustenance. That path is plain. Exchange your desires for the things God offers and you will be amazed at His willingness to quench your thirst and satisfy your hunger. Take, for example a young child. He’s with his mother in Toys R Us. And he sees one toy that strikes his fancy. And he begins to ask for it and ask again for it and again and again. But Mom is persistent because she knows her child well. She knows it won’t satisfy him. She knows he has toys at home that he really enjoys. So, like God, she says no. Now, at home when he’s hungry, when there’s a true need, she provides something that will truly satisfy him. She gives him food. And minutes after he eats, he’s as happy as can be. He plays and completely enjoys his life. Every soul on the earth has desires and longings. You could say these are their “hungers and thirsts.” Yet, with all the attempts to meet those desires, you can be guaranteed you will end up unsatisfied or dissatisfied while you seek those things apart from your Creator. Jesus is the One Who specifically orders the means to the end. He knows which task will result in the most satisfaction. And, by the way, when you experience this satisfaction, you enter into that state Jesus calls “blessedness.” It’s changing your desire into a desire for righteousness. It’s trading in your longings are for new longings. It’s getting an appetite for righteousness. You see, God’s desire is to give you something that is truly satisfying. Folks, if you hunger and thirst for the things God knows you need above everything else, you will be filled. First, the promise: “for they shall be filled.” |