BLESSED ARE (PART 4)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.”

Luke 6:21a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever found yourself desperately hungry or thirsty?

I know I have.

At least for me, my body sends me all kinds of signals when I deprive it of things necessary for it to function right.

When I fail to eat, I start to feel light headed and listless, sometimes even getting a headache, my energy levels failing for lack of fuel.

When I fail to drink enough fluids, I find that I can’t perspire as I should and cool my body temperature properly. My muscles also can begin to cramp up on me, a crippling and painful place to be.

Maybe you have similar reactions or ones that are specific to your body and/or any health conditions you suffer from. I know diabetics especially have to be mindful of their diet, of how and when they eat.

Since we are thinking in this direction, let’s take the hunger and thirst idea and apply it to our spiritual lives, especially as it applies to our relationship with the Lord. Because unfortunately, people today either have no relationship with the Lord at all or, if they do, they fail to maintain that relationship as they should, sometimes only turning to the Lord when they need Him and remaining distance at other times.

When we do this, when we fail to engage the Lord in relationship and receive the righteousness that comes from His word and Spirit, then we run the risk of suffering spiritual starvation and/or dehydration which are equally damaging to their physical counterparts. Let me use an example to explain what I mean.   

I want you to imagine what would happen to you or someone else if you ate and drank on Sunday morning for a few hours and then failed to eat and drink again until the same time a week later. That wouldn’t be advisable, right? I think any normal person would see it as downright crazy and, frankly, I don’t think anyone would be able to do it without ending up in the hospital. We have to eat and drink regularly or suffer dire consequences for not doing so.

Now, transfer this same scenario to your spiritual life. You go to church and possibly even church school on Sunday morning, hearing the word of God preached and taught as you read from the Bible. You sing hymns and songs of praise, lifting your voice, heart, and mind up to the Lord. You bow your head in communal and personal prayer. And then you go home, never reading from your Bible, never hearing another sermon or Christian song, and never praying until you return to church the next Sunday. You may not suffer the physical damage that comes with failing to feed yourself physically but you are doing similar damage to yourself spiritually.

Why all this discussion?

Because as we see in our fourth devotion in this nine part series, there is no need for anyone to be spiritually famished or thirsty when they could be filled and blessed by the Lord instead. Look again at these verses from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.” Luke 6:21a

Note here that when we are hungry and thirsty for the Lord and the righteousness that only comes from Him, we will always be filled, satisfied in our fullness, and as a result blessed and happy.

It’s true, right?

Has there ever been a time when you went to the word of God, hungering and thirsting to be fed spiritually, and came away hungry and unfulfilled?

I can honestly say that it’s never happened to me. Rather, I have seen these words from Jesus bear true time after time after time. It’s the best “meal” I eat every day, the most delicious “drink” I consume. Nothing else even comes close and as I become filled by the Lord each and every day, I am reminded of this scripture from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, a scripture Jesus quotes from as He wards off the temptation of Satan in Matthew, chapter 4:

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Deuteronomy 8:3

The scriptures are clear. Physical food and drink is not enough to sustain anyone on its own. There has to be a balance between that and every word that comes from the mouth of God. One must eat and drink for their bodies but also for their spirit and souls.

Question: Before you read this today, were you spiritually filled or starved?

My prayer is that if you were empty, you now have been filled and satisfied. If you were already full, then I pray this has served as a nice spiritual snack for your day.

Either way, I know you have been blessed because Jesus promised this for anyone who comes hungry and thirsty for righteousness.

Tomorrow, we will look at how the merciful are blessed.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com