Hunger and Thirst

By Clifton Angel

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Hunger and thirst are natural desires that are common, controlling, and driving. Every person understands the physical desire for food and drink. However, we may not realize our need for spiritual nourishment.     Many are spiritually malnourished while believing they are perfectly healthy. Jesus said it this way: “Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger” (Luke 6:25). We need to properly feed our spiritual hunger. "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger” (John 6:35). We need to properly quench our thirst. To the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said: “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst” (John 4:13–14). In another place, He said, “He that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). And again, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37–38).     For those who have tasted of the Bread of Life and the living water of Jesus, we must beware that we can still ruin our spiritual appetite. We can do so by not reading and studying God’s Word as we ought. Let us study (2 Timothy 2:15) that we might “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). We can ruin our appetite by not attending every possible service of the Lord’s church. “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10:24, 25). We can ruin our spiritual appetite by not praying like we should. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We can ruin our spiritual appetite by being overcome with the things of this world. John wrote, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). We can ruin our appetite by being engaged in sin. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1).     “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Righteousness is the state of being right and doing right, according to God (Matthew 6:33; Romans 1:16–17). Are you hungering and thirsting after righteousness?   - Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com/