Introduction:

Do you really know what it is to be hungry or thirsty? I imagine that some of us who have been told that we could have absolutely nothing to eat or drink before a medical test or surgery might think we understand. Right? I recall waiting and waiting and waiting for surgery several years ago. I was limited in what I could eat and drink the previous day and then after midnight I could have nothing. Surgery was not scheduled for 6:00 am or 8:00 am. The surgeon had other more serious surgeries for earlier in the day and I was told that I would have to wait, probably until early or mid afternoon. Well, mid afternoon passed too, and it was time for supper before I was even taken from my hospital room to the pre-surgery area. No one was there. They had already left for the day, so I waited some more. One of my recurring thoughts was about how hungry I was and what a large meal I would want when I finally got out of surgery. Finally about 6:30 in the evening I was taken to the operating room and chatted with the anesthesiologist before he put me to sleep. Would you believe that after all that waiting for surgery to be completed so I could eat and drink I had to wait some more? While the anesthesiologist was getting me ready, my surgeon was called to consult with another patient about an emergency surgery that he would perform after he was done with me. By the time I came to in the post surgical recovery room and saw a clock it was nearly time for a midnight snack rather than this huge meal I wanted.

I imagine a few of you could tell your own stories about forced deprivation of food and drink before surgery and tests. I recall a fellow who really liked to eat who had to wait and wait before surgery, but not as long as I did, and he claimed that he could eat a whole cow. In such situations we might say the person has an -

I. Obsession with Hunger and Thirst.

While obsession may be defined in different ways, what I am talking about is an intense preoccupation with hunger and thirst - a strong longing and desire to get something to eat and drink that seems to take precedence of our whole thinking until we do something about it. It is an obsession that drives us to action. Yes, Probably all of us have experienced some hunger and thirst. It is natural for those of us who are physically alive. Most of us probably do not realize the intensity that Jesus may have had in mind as he taught about huger and thirst.

I read that in North China in 1878, 70 million human beings were starving. One man recorded this account.

"We passed men, once strong and well-dressed, staggering over the frozen ground with only a few rags to shield them from the piercing wind. Their feeble steps, emaciated bodies and wild looks told only too plainly that they were about to spend their last night upon earth. As we passed along the road in the early morning we saw the victims of the preceding night lying dead and stiff where they fell. No one pitied them; no one cared for them; such sights had long ago become too common. There were hundreds of corpses lying by the roadside.... Families were broken up; the wife sold; the children sold or cast out on the mountainside to perish, while the men wandered about in the vain search for food. The whole district through which we passed (three or four hundred miles) was in the same condition."

Commenting on this Dr. Billy Graham wrote:

It was so bad that men did not go out in the streets alone lest someone attack them, kill them, and drag them home to eat them. This, Beloved, is the intense hunger that God is talking about. A hunger that has to have food or it dies. Not a hunger that decides whether or not it wants a second or third helping.

Obsession to:
II. Object of Hunger and Thirst

The object of hunger and thirst Jesus is talking about is for righteousness. So we might ask, "What is this righteousness?"

As we begin to answer this important question we might look at this verse in a few translations and paraphrases.

LB. "Happy are those who long to be just and good, for they shall be completely satisfied."

Phillips: "Happy are those who are hungry and thirsty for true goodness, for they will be fully satisfied."

Today's English Version: "happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires: God will satisfy them fully."

New English Bible: "How blest are those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail; they shall be satisfied."

Message: "You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat."

My friends, we need to look to God and to His word. What He determines to be right, good, and just should be our great desire to follow. This beatitude is not asking us to compare ourselves to others. Recorded several verses later in this same chapter, v. 20, Jesus made it clear that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Psalmist wrote, Psalm 42:1,2a: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee of God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

We may recall Isaiah's vision of God being holy, just, righteous, and good in chapter 6. Then later he wrote (55:1) "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters."

Do you have this obsession with spiritual hunger and thirst that moves you to take action? If you do, turn to the object of hunger and thirst, our God who is righteous and goodness. Make a new commitment to personal Bible Study, to Worship, to Sunday School, to Prayer Meetings, to group Bible studies.

If you do not have this obsession with spiritual hunger and thirst that really does move you to action you should ask yourself, "Am I spiritually alive?” Similarly to our physical hunger and thirst, it is natural for those who are spiritually alive to be hunger and thirsty for God and doing what pleases Him.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it this way.

"This beatitude follows logically from the previous ones; it is a statement to which all the others lead. It is the logical conclusion to which they come and it is something form which we should all be profoundly thankful and grateful to God. I do not know of a better test that anyone can apply to himself or herself in this whole matter of the Christian profession than a verse like this. If this verse is to you one of the most blessed statements of the whole of Scripture you can be quite sure you are a Christian; if it is not, then you had better examine the foundations again."

In closing:
III. Opportunity of Hunger and Thirst

Blessed .... for they shall be satisfied.

God put this hunger and thirst in us and He is the only one who can completely satisfy.

In Hannah Whitall-Smith's book, The Christians Secret of a Happy Life", she wrote, "You have had, perhaps, a clear understanding of doctrinal truths, but you have not come into possession of their light and power. In your life Christ is believed in, talked about, and served, but He is not filling you hour by hour. You found Christ as your Savior from the penalty of sin, but you have not found Him as your all-sufficient Savior from its power. The joy and thrill of the Christian experience is gone."

Conclusion:

I found a prayer that you might like to make personal.

God, I have no righteousness of my own. There is no way that I could ever please You in and of myself. God, I have walked in independence and have lived my own life. I abhor myself and my actions and I want to turn to You. I am a sinner. Save me; make me a saint; set me apart for Yourself. Fill me with Your righteousness."

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