Devotion for Today: Devotion for Today "Hunger and Thirst" Matthew 5:6

Devotion for Today  "Hunger and Thirst" Matthew 5:6

You know that you have a boy who is approaching his teen years when

you begin to hear this constant declaration, "I'm hungry!"  Very soon

after supper time (and most every meal) I hear this.  I first thought

that perhaps I am not feeding him enough.  He eats every thing on his

plate, even greater helpings than I eat myself. So I give him more, and

still he wants to eat. I found him downstairs in the middle of the night.

I asked him, "What are you doing up so late?"  He says to me, "I'm hungry."

I find myself thinking about how I am going to finance our increasing

grocery bill.  Should I ask for a raise.  Perhaps my wife can find a

better-paying job.  Then his younger brother is not too far behind him.

How will we survive? Should we grow a garden?  Then I am comforted by a

book by Dr. James Dobson, who says that the hunger pangs will begin to

subside after the growth spurts are finished- in about eight to ten

years!

Hunger, along with thirst, are those basic appetites that God gives us

so that we will eat enough to survive.  The world hungers for many other

things besides food.  But the Christian ought to be hungering for more

important things.  Jesus declares in the beatitude, "Blessed are they

which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."

What is this righteousness for which we are to thirst?  It is the kind

of life that God desires and that which is pleasing to Him.  One could

also say, a godly life.  I'm not speaking of a false, or self-righteousness.

There is no joy in that, nor is that pleasing to the Lord and it is

repugnant to others.  It is a lifestyle and commitment that will attract

others to Christ through you.  It emanates love and kindness, joy and

mercy.  And when we have this appetite in us, we find that we will have

as much of it as we want.

Do you have this godly life?  Do you hunger and thirst after righteous-

ness?  Know that it is the mark of a believer, just as hungering for

food and thirsting for water makes us human.  Have a blessed day!

righteousness that

(17 August 2001)

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@embarqmail.com

jcrussell@liberty.edu

Devotion for Today