DEVOTIONAL

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Matthew 5:6 NASBS

How glorious it is that Jesus Christ, Who is the expressed image of God, would speak these remarkable words to those whom He loves. It is a true declaration of how God’s children can find contentment in a fallen world.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, said in light of his relationship with Him, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

There is no doubt this reaches beyond the physical nourishment of the human body, but speaks to something far deeper. It speaks to the indwelling Holy Spirit that is a wellspring of life within the soul of those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit gives an intense desire for his truth in the inner man that sets him in the pursuit of holiness.

We see this in Paul’s letter to the church of Colossae when he was commanding them not to indulge their fallen desires, but rather to put them to death by “laying aside the old self with its evil practices, and putting on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.”

Christian, this is a renewal of the heart birthed in you by God that yearns to bring glory to Jesus through obedience. This alone brings satisfaction to the soul. The prophet Isaiah said concerning the righteousness of God, “Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O LORD, We have waited for You eagerly; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls.

At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.”

May the deepest desire of our souls be to hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ, and to know Him more intimately. This longing becomes a witness to our hearts that we belong to Him, for the scriptures tell us, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”

Oh, God of our salvation, may we long for the Lord Jesus in the deepest recesses of our soul.

May we pant over our new nature to have a greater depth each day, of the vast love for which You love us. Remember beloved of God, the unregenerate, those who are lost and seek not Christ, have no desire to truly please God. There is nothing in their heart corresponding with the desire of the soul to know God. But in Christ, “the desire of the righteous shall be satisfied.”