The Beatitudes: Steps to Follow (5)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
In the movie Serenity there is this brief exchange.
The Operative: I'm sorry. If your quarry goes to ground, leave no ground to go to. You should have taken my offer. Or did you think none of this was your fault?
Mal: I don't murder children.
The Operative: I do, if I have to.
Mal: Why? Do you even know why they sent you?
The Operative: It's not my place to ask. I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.
Mal: So me and mine gotta lay down and die so you can live in your better world?
The Operative: I'm not going to live there.
An evil man wanting a world without sin. A world without evil. A world he cannot live in. The desire to be without sin is perhaps within us all. How grand to eradicate sin in ourselves and in the world.
Removing sin is not enough. It cannot be done by laws against the sins. The commandment “Do not bear false witness.” only condemns us as liars. Looking at sin, analyzing sin, and condemning sin will never bring about a world without sin.
We need to desire and pursue a world full of righteousness. As followers of Messiah, we do better to pursue righteousness than try to avoid sinning. Note these words of Paul:
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:25-32)
Lay aside falsehood—speak truth
Steal no longer—labor to have something to share
Speak no unwholesome word—speak words that build up others
Put away bitterness, wrath, and anger—be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving
For every sin that condemns us, there is an open-ended and never-ending path that is its righteous opposite. When we walk that path, we do well. We also realize how short we fall from what we could be. And so we begin to desire (hunger and thirst) to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle all with self-control.
Will be satisfied
Jesus promises success when we pursue righteousness. This is a remarkable promise. To have it in our heart to love more, give more, be braver in the face of opposition, to speak truth effectively, and on and on—is to have it come to be. This is the race we run and the finish line is to be fully like Jesus. We run desiring to reach the goal.
You love more than you did yesterday and tomorrow you will love more. That is the way and the outcome of hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
Psalm 42:1