HUNGERING AND THIRSTING AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS
2 Corinthians 5:21; Matthew 5:6; Psalm 119:97;
I have a simple thought as to hungering and thirsting after righteousness. I wondered if it might begin with new birth. There was a point in our soul histories when we did not want to have anything to do with God or His things. But at some point, the Spirit worked in us to convict us of our sin, and we realised that we did not have any righteousness. Our righteousnesses were as filthy rags and we could not possibly present them to God, and at that point we realised that we needed a Saviour, and in wonderful grace God has accepted us in all the worth of Jesus Christ the righteous. In the first scripture we read, we have the wonderful truth that “Him who knew not sin has been made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him”.
If we hunger and thirst in a natural sense, it means that we urgently need something, and if we hunger and thirst long enough, we will die. If our hunger and thirst for righteousness is not satisfied by trusting in the Saviour, and proving that our righteousness is in Him, then we will surely not have peace. I hope that there is no one here in that condition, still hungry and thirsty, not having found satisfaction, because satisfaction is freely available. If you do not know the Saviour already, you can, dear friend, by putting your faith and trust in Him.
The scripture which first came to my mind was in Matthew 5. The Lord was speaking about various features which would mark persons who are suitable for the kingdom. It is kingdom persons who are spoken about here. The Lord said, “Blessed they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled”. When we come to the Lord Jesus as Saviour and receive the Holy Spirit, we find that we have new desires; we seek for things that we did not want before, and we do not want things that we did want before; that is wonderful. We can be sure that if we are pursuing God’s things, we will be filled and satisfied, but if we pursue things that are not of God, we will never be satisfied. It is a lesson that takes a long time to learn – I can say that for myself – and perhaps a lot of experimentation takes place before we realise what can really fill us. It is a wonderful thing that we have this emphatic declaration that “they shall be filled”. It would be characteristic for the believer to desire the things of God, and desire to go on in a way that is pleasing to God. That is what should characterise us if we are going on in a right way. We think of the Lord Jesus as the One whose food was to do the will of Him who had sent Him (John 4:34). He is a wonderful model for us in all things, as we would seek to go on in a right way. There are challenges as to that, but we have every resource available to us so that we can do so, and we can be filled. It really is a wonderful thing.
We read in the psalm, where the psalmist says, “Oh how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day”. Of course, this was said prophetically of our Lord Jesus but we, as having the Spirit, would like to think about the things in which God takes delight. It is amazing that we can think about the things in which God takes pleasure, and we can take pleasure in them as well. It is totally alien to us naturally: according to the flesh, we would not take any pleasure in them at all, but we can do so because of the indwelling Spirit. That is a wonderful thing, that we can make God’s things our meditation all the day. Of course, we have to think about other things – we have responsibilities to see to – but “all the day” we can think about the things that please God. That would shape the way we walk, it should form our path and the ways in which we think and speak, and it would mean that we would be here pleasing to God.
I just touch on this final scripture speaking about the Lord Jesus, who loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. If we are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, we would find satisfaction in thinking about the Lord Jesus, His pathway and His Person. He would be food for us. We need this food if we are to go on in a way that is righteous. It is not going to happen by itself; we need to feed and think about this One whom God has anointed with oil of gladness above His companions. God has set Him in the midst, He has been exalted, set up for us to look at, to feed on and to contemplate. That would really help us to go on in a way that is pleasing to God. The Lord Jesus has done it all, He walked here in a perfectly righteous path. We cannot possibly measure up to that, but it is wonderful to think that He is our great Forerunner (Heb.6:20). It is very satisfying to think of that, and to turn away from consideration of failures and weaknesses. We might look back at recent soul history, and think of how we stumbled, but we can turn away from all that, and think about “Jesus Christ the righteous”, 1 John 2:1. What a One to have before us; a wondrous thought.
It would bring contentment; the scripture says that “piety with contentment is great gain”, 1 Tim.6:6. An element of piety would be righteousness. I used to struggle very much with the thought that one could be content just with piety, but it is a wonderful and blessed reality if we are dependent on the Holy Spirit and keep our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus. He has gone on before, the One who has been anointed with the oil of gladness. God the Father has such pleasure in Him; indeed, the Holy Spirit has pleasure in Him, and we too can have our pleasure in Him. That would help us as we seek to go on in a way that is pleasing to God – we have that desire in us as believers. Sometimes we might be distracted, but we can always look at this One who always did the things that were pleasing to the Father (John 8:29). That is a wonderful and sustaining thought.
I just leave these few simple impressions with us, and trust that it will be a word of encouragement. May the Lord bless the word.
Word in a meeting for ministry, Grangemouth
G.T. Melville
9 January 2018