Beatitudes: Hunger and thirst for righteousness

         Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

         for they will be filled.

Matthew 5:6

A flower thirsts and flourishes in a harsh environment.

Hunger and thirst are the most basic human needs and perhaps feelings. We realize we must have food and water to survive, and if we are without, we realize our bad state.  To hunger and thirst for something is to need it, to think it is something we must have in order to live.

In the physical world we must have food and water to survive, and we are not surprised when we thirst or hunger. In the spiritual world, our most basic need is to have a relationship with God. Many people are looking for that "something" that will give them a sense of well being or wholeness. They may try to fill it in many ways, but they usually come up empty eventually.

This is also the next step in the spiritual journey. Starting with becoming poor in spirit, recognizing one's condition of being "poor" as in not having what you need spiritually.  We then mourn our bad condition, and this is often called repentance. In this state, we then become meek, which is more of an attitude of recognizing one's state of being. It is humility in its most basic form,

So when we get to this point, we may again have that thirst and hunger for God. We may again recognize our need, and realize what it is. When this happens, we will be filled. What is this righteousness that we hunger and thirst for? It is a relationship with God. It is not hungering and thirsting to be some perfect person, that is not what righteousness really is. This righteousness is more a relationship with God, which is how we were designed to be in the first place. When we hunger and thirst for this - realize it is our most basic need, then we can be filled with the love of God.

I remember feeling this way a long time ago, after years of searching, finally finding the truth of the gospel. Maybe it was then that I was first really open to it at a deeper level. It was just a feeling like finally I was in a real relationship with God. I was praying, reading the scriptures and meditating on them. Thoughts of the spiritual world seemed to crowd out a lot of cares of the world - what we call sin. I was not thinking of myself as some holy person, but rather, simply a person who was being filled with a righteous (as in correct or realistic) relationship with God. I was filled then.

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