Blessed are They that Hunger and Thirst

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

What does Righteousness Mean in the Bible?

Righteousness is an old English word that indicates rightness or correctness of thinking. Happy are those who hunger and thirst for rightness, and is defined in the Strong’s Concordance as integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, and correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting.

What does hunger and thirst for righteousness mean?

It means to have a deep desire, an aspiration, a hunger, to be in right standing with God, to live in a manner that is pleasing to Him.

Thy Word have I Hidden in My Heart

How does one cultivate a condition of rightness, and correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting? By embracing the word of God.

Psalm 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Psalm 119:10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

How can a young man cleanse his way? By turning a hearing ear to the word of God. How shall one avoid sinning against God? By treasuring and hiding the word of God in his heart. God’s word possesses the power to keep men on the path of rightness and correctness.

The Entrance of Thy Word

Psalm 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

There is light, or understanding, in God’s word. It is the light of God, the knowledge of His word, that gives us understanding on how to think, feel, and behave ourselves. The entrance of His word gives us light. And we must pursue that light. We should hunger and thirst after it, because it produces within us correctness of thinking, which is righteousness.

Why Study the Bible?

Spending time in the word of God is essential for the development of rightness of thinking. The Bible says that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Our ability to understand right from wrong depends upon the depth of our knowledge of the word of God. His word gives us God’s perspective on reality.

The Renewing of Your Mind

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

What is that verse saying? It is saying, let yourself be transformed by the renewing, or the renovation, of your mind. How is the mind renewed? By listening closely to, by pondering deeply, by taking heed to the word of God. Why? That you might prove, that is, examine and fully scrutinize and understand, what God’s wishes and desires are. It’s impossible to do the will of another unless we first understand what their will is. His will must become our will.

Transforming the Mind

The word transforms our mind. To paraphrase one minister, ‘Transforming your mind with the word of God aligns your will with the Father's will. By spending time in His Word through reading, meditating, and memorizing the word, we begin to think in ways that please Him, and His ways become our ways.’

Hunger and Thirst

Who is the one that hungers and thirsts after righteousness? It is the one, who, from a heart that deeply desires to please the Lord, actively pursues an understanding of the word of God, so as to gain rightness of thinking and acting, aligning his own will with the will of God.

So then, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, or correctness and right thinking, is to desire and even crave the knowledge of the word of God, knowledge gained through study and meditation, or, that is, through deeply pondering the scriptures.

And the more we do that, the more we want to know and understand. How do we gain hunger for the word? By exposing ourselves to it. Hunger for the word grows within us as we spend time in His word.

Proverbs 8:34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

Continued in Blessed are the Merciful