BE-ATTITUDES: HUNGER FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Being hungry is something that we can all related to. Whether you are craving a burger (for me, it’s an In-N-Out burger, but let’s not go there, as I unfortunately no longer live in one of the privileged places that has them) or Mexican food (again, let’s not discuss authentic Mexican food, because, to reiterate, I no longer live in one of the privileged places where they dwell), that desire will drive you to ferociously pursue meeting that need. As fun and cheeky as this analogy is, in truth, a hunger and thirst for righteousness is kind of like that! It isn’t a lackluster pursuit of Christian thinks (e.g. religiously going to church or acting happy), rather it is a passionate pursuit of living in God’s will that will never ultimately be satisfied this side of heaven. As I’ve already noted in the above parenthetical notations, there are certain foods that I crave now, but, because of where I reside, those cravings will never be satisfied until I’m in the actual location that has the ability to truly meet those needs. In short, when you’re craving an In-N-Out burger, nothing else seems to do. Just like spiritual hunger. One will hunger for something heavenly, and while there are things on this earth that come closer than others (e.g. church), there is only one way to truly satisfy that hunger and that is the very presence of God.
As is true with bodily hunger, this spiritual hunger should be apparent. When someone is hungry in my house, they are usually in the kitchen looking in the fridge or pantry. They are never looking for food in the bathroom. The point of saying this is that when one is spiritually hungry for righteousness, they are going to be frequenting the places where that hunger can be met (or at least as close to met as possible). It is also true that these spiritually hungry people will not be found in places that won’t satisfy that hunger. In short, spiritually hungry and thirsty people are not willing to compromise. They know there isn’t much nourishment in grey areas. Since this is the case, it’s not a bad practice for each of us to look at where we are at spiritually. Are we in places that will feed the spirit, or in areas that feed the flesh?

The glorious promise to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness is that they will be satisfied. Not only will this righteous person be wholly fulfilled in the life that Christ has blessed them with here on this earth, but they will be completely satisfied in eternity where their craving will finally be met!