The ‘Beatitudes’

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

This verse is perhaps one of the easiest to understand as it is pretty self-explanatory. Have you ever been really thirsty? We were branding one spring while it was a very sunny and warm day. For those that have been involved with branding calves you understand how dusty and dry it can get. About half way through I was not sure I could feel my tongue anymore. I wanted water in the worst way, almost to a point of not being able to continue without it. I think that is what Jesus means when He says, “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

That type of thirst or hunger that drives ‘til you stop everything else to quench it. In some way we all want righteousness; I believe this verse is for that hunger or thirst that takes control of your mind. Few of us have ever been really hungry; that was probably the closest I have ever been to truly understanding thirst. I believe God used that time to help me get a small understanding of what He is talking about in this verse.

God is looking for those that desire Him over everything else. The good thing is, those that do will be ‘filled’ or blessed. Multiple times throughout scripture we see this truth. I’ve listed a few of the verses below. This is not a comprehensive list, so see how many more you can find that relate to this topic; as we do, we “shall be filled.”