Hunger & Thirst

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”, Matthew 5:6 NKJV. I just had that verse sitting in my spirit today. This is taken from Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount or otherwise known as the Beatitudes. What was Jesus trying to tell us in this verse and what does this mean for us going into 2024?

In the Passion Translation the word, “Blessed” which appears multiple times in Matthew 5, is translated as, happiness, delight, blessing, enrichment, bliss and joy, see Matthew 5:1-12 TPT. This tells me that when Jesus says, “Blessed are those…” He is not saying it in a sad monotone boring voice. He is excited! He is pronouncing blessing, enrichment, joy and bliss over our lives.

So when the Bible talks about a hunger and thirst for righteousness, what does it mean? The word “hunger” is the Strongs Greek word G3983 peinao which means to hunger, to be needy to crave or to seek with eager desire. Thirst is the Strongs Greek word G1372 dipsao which has the figurative meaning of those who painfully feel their want [or need] of and eagerly long for those things for which the soul is refreshed, supported and strengthened.

After reading that, I now have new understanding of Psalms 42:1-2 which says, “I long to drink of You, O God, to drink deeply from the streams of pleasure flowing from Your Presence. My longings overwhelm me for more of You! My soul thirsts, pants, and longs for the living God. I want to come and see the face of God.”

This thirst that Matthew 5 speaks of is the same thirst in Psalms 42, it’s a deep longing and desire for God. We know we can try quench our thirst with worldly things, but they will never satisfy. They will always come up short and leave us empty. But Jesus promises that when we thirst after righteousness, which is right relationship with God and acceptance by God (which come through Jesus and salvation), integrity and purity of life (which we work on with the Holy Spirit), then we shall be filled. Not maybe, not possibly but shall be filled. Our hunger and our thirst will always be satisfied in God.

Our verse today tells us that enriched, joyful, blissful, delighted, happy, and blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied. God will never leave us on seen. We hunger and thirst after Him and He swoops in and fills us with joy, bliss, delight and blessing. He refreshes, supports and strengthens our soul.

Matthew 6:33-34 TPT which says, “So above all, constantly seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness, then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”

You want to find fulfilment in life? You focus on Jesus. You hunger and thirst after God. You pursue God and the things of God with all you have and watch God fill every facet of your life with Himself, with His joy which is unshakeable, with His peace which is stable, with blessings you didn’t earn and with love that you can not comprehend. We do the seeking and the thirsting; God does the filling. We serve God and advance His Kingdom; He pours into us all that we need.

If you are like me and you feel tired just thinking about 2024, lol, all we need to do is hunger and thirst after God and the things of God and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we shall be filled, refreshed, supported and strengthened by God. We know that we will be joyful, happy, enriched and blessed in 2024. God is faithful to His promises. He would not have said it unless He wanted to follow through on it. Let’s get excited for 2024, Jesus sure is! Let us determine within ourselves to be more hungry, thirsty and desperate for God and His righteousness and see all the different ways in which God is going to fill us up!

Journeying with God is a fun and exciting adventure! He is good and He is longing to be good to you.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.