I first remember learning about the Beatitudes in a church basement one summer when I was helping my aunt teach vacation Bible school. She kept the kids entertained with crafts and brought The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) to life. The first part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount focuses on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), which detail various blessings. Just the other week, I found myself reading through the Beatitudes again using a devotional from Bible.com, and Matthew 5:6 stood out to me:
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those
who hunger and
thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
The author of the devotional brought the hunger analogy to life. We all know what it feels like to be hungry or to crave something—it consumes our mind. Throughout the week, I’ve been reflecting on what I hunger and thirst for, what consumes my thoughts.
I think about running, training, and how and when I’ll get my workouts in. I think about the books I’m reading and what the endings could be. I think about how many hours are left until my kids go to bed. But do I hunger and thirst for righteousness? It certainly isn’t at the top of my list, and I’m definitely not craving it. So, I’ve been asking God to help me hunger for righteousness.
As I’ve examined my thoughts over the past couple of weeks, I've realized that I can’t force myself to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I can fake it, but that doesn’t create a genuine hunger. I opened up my old Bible to the Book of Psalms and rediscovered verses I had highlighted throughout the years. These verses shared a theme of desiring more of God, of craving and hungering for Him. Here are a few motivational verses that God brought to my attention this week:
Psalm 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 143:10
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;
may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
These verses have become prayers for me as well. If you’d like more inspiration from the Book of Psalms, click here. This week, may God help us hunger and thirst for righteousness, to crave more of Him, His kingdom, and the things that are important to Him.
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