“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” (Psalm 37:4-6)
“But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
To make righteousness your first and foremost passion does not mean that you have no other interests or desires. Each of us is designed with unique desires and passions in everyday living. Some are passionate about music or physical fitness. Others are passionate about their career or certain hobbies. God’s call to us in this beatitude to hunger and thirst for righteousness is not a call to forsake all other passions in our life. It is a call to pursue all other passions in light of our all-consuming passion for righteousness. It is a matter of priorities. To hunger and thirst after righteousness should be a part of every other decision that we make. It gives a unified purpose to all other passions in our life…to everything in our life! Paul said, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
This understanding of priorities is not a “1 through 10” list that we often see in seminars and read about in self-help books. As we know, that way of dealing with priorities often leads to conflict and anxiety as the different areas of our lives are forced to compete for our time and attention. In other words, our lives become more complicated and confusing.
The Scripture defines priorities more like a circle. The different desires, responsibilities, and aspects of our life arranged in a circle around one central hub. That hub is “the Kingdom of God and His righteousness”. It acknowledges that the natural flow of life requires us to give our primary attention to different things at different times and, therefore, everything we do is united into the One purpose…One center…feeding the One passion. Again, Paul said,
“But one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13,14)
This view of life allows us the ability to experience the many facets that an abundant life has to offer while maintaining the simplicity of one driving force…a hunger and thirst for righteousness!
Today, ask yourself, what is the driving force at the center of your life? What is it in your life that influences every decision you make? For Jesus it was the passion of pleasing the Father and, in this beatitude, He is inviting us to share that same hunger and thirst for righteousness. Will you?