November 13: THE RADICAL KINGDOM #4

Matthew 5:6 reveals the next revolutionary principle Jesus gave for those who would be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” You see, the Kingdom of Heaven has invaded the Kingdom of the Earth and this is the radical lifestyle to be expected from the lives of the converted.
This may be the most demanding and yet the most comforting of them all. It is difficult for most Americans to grasp this because most of us are never truly hungry or thirsty. But just as food and water are necessities in the physical life, righteousness is a necessity for the Christian.
To be congratulated are those believers who have an intense spiritual desire! Hunger and thirst are guarantees of good physical health, spiritual hunger is a sure sign of spiritual health. As we know, one of the first signs of sickness is a loss of appetite. When there is a hunger and thirst for total dependence on God, that is evidence of a new lifestyle. The desire for the defeat of sin and the triumph of Godly living is positive evidence that you are maturing. It is the kind of idea that David expressed in Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” Many Doctors have told their patients, “you are what you eat.” That is surely true in the spiritual life, also.
We are talking about a guaranteed result. Jesus is quoted in John 4:14, “whoever drinks the water I will give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Isaiah boldly asks, “why do you spend money on what is not going to satisfy?’ (Isaiah 55:1-2) How do you answer that?
Jesus gives us a better joy; the cleansing and sustaining joy of eternal life.
There is the old story of life during the Civil War that says people were so hungry that they ate dirt. And it made them sick. Regretfully, there are people eating the dirt of this world today and the hospitals are filled with their sicknesses.

“O Holy God, we want to be like You! Help us to have a growing appetite
for the things that lead to holiness and spiritual health. Amen”