"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled (satisfied with divine contentment)" Matthew 5:6.
When we are physically hungry and thirsty our cravings can only be met with food and drink. As Christ-followers we have an inner spiritual hunger and thirst that only His righteousness can satisfy. There is a difference between physical and spiritual hunger. Physical hunger works opposite of spiritual hunger. We ingest physical food and drink until our body is satisfied. We no longer have a need. When we are spiritually hungry and we are given a feast of good spiritual food, it makes us hungry for more. We cannot seem to get enough.
The reverse is also true. Missing a meal for our physical body increases our desire and appetite for nourishment. But if we receive no spiritual food over time, we can lose our desire for it and malnutrition will set in. Just like physical malnutrition, this creates short and long term spiritual health issues, slows recovery when we are wounded spiritually, and gives way to a higher risk of infection from the world. It also delays our spiritual growth and causes us to waste away spiritually.
Unfortunately, some of us are spiritually malnourished. It’s not because we don’t eat, but because we are consuming the wrong things. The world offers us an endless buffet of things that we can ingest that only satisfies our flesh but leaves us spiritually malnourished. And when we are given opportunity for something to feed our spirits, we become picky eaters. We only want to consume what we like or what makes us feels good. The only way to have a healthy spiritual diet is to have a desire to apply the righteous standard of God (His way of doing and being right) to our lives. The menu to obtain this is only found in His Holy Word. Our desire must be to hunger and thirst for what pleases Him. If we train our appetites to do so, we will be satisfied with divine contentment. ~ God’s blessings, protection, and favor to all.
Benny Nolen
Director
Joseph's Storehouse
