The whole point of Jesus’ Inaugural Address is to create a kingdom of happy, blessed, and joyful people. The truths He shares, if we act on them, will bring maximum enjoyment and fulfillment to our lives. However, in our society we suffer from a bad case of culturalized Christianity. Biblical principles have been compromised, and hedonistic practices of self-gratification and pleasure-seeking are now common. Jesus, in His Inaugural Address, teaches the true route to lasting happiness, fulfillment, and blessing. He says blessings follow obedience. There is no other way. If we seek the blessings, while bypassing the obedience, we forfeit true satisfaction in this life and endanger our position in the life to come. We must seek to be filled His way. It carries an eternal guarantee.
“Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
Every creature that God ever made is thirsty. An animal may quench its thirst at a watering hole, at a bucket of collected rainwater, or, like an ant, at a drop of dew on a blossom. In other countries, people walk for miles to get fresh water. They’ll face danger of all kinds to obtain something as basic as a drink. In America, we know very little about true hunger or thirst. If it’s 2p.m. and we missed our 12:30 lunchtime, we think we’re famished. Jesus wants us to realize there is another hunger and thirst that is even more critical to survival and fulfillment. We must desire righteousness as much as we desire food and drink. David said, “As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longs after thee, Oh God” (Psalms 42:1). This is the hunger and thirst God desires in each of us. A thirst for Him!
“Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
God is not stingy and will not withhold blessings from us. He desires to give with a free and open hand. However, seeking his hand, instead of His face, will not quench our hunger and thirst. If we turn away from God and focus on the stuff He can give us, we will never be satisfied. Just like the man who dreams of plentiful food and ample drink awakens to hunger, thirst, and starvation, we become the unsatisfied man who seeks things other than the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The first time Jesus sent His disciples out He told them to take nothing with them. They were to go only with the message of the Gospel. They had no money, no script, no bags, just His words in their mouths. When they returned, He asked about their success. Next, He sent them with a purse and a sword. Why the change? They understood, from their first mission, that the stuff was not their success, not their crutch, and wholly unnecessary. Once they had learned this, He allowed them a few things. They were the masters now. They could control their own stuff knowing they had previously been successful without it. It had nothing to do with their success or failure. Stuff had lost its power.
When we desire God and follow Him, we will be satisfied. David said, “I delight to do thy will, O my God…” (Psalms 40:8). His will is not a burden, but a delight! We love Him; therefore, we love His commandments. Whatever interests Him interests us as well. This is true hunger and thirst. We desire Him, not the stuff he has created.
