The Beatitudes - 4

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled. - Matthew 5:6

Hunger and thirst. Jesus talks about feelings that we all can experience physically—hunger and thirst—and relates them to something spiritual. But it takes some thinking to actually connect the two. The feeling we experience when we are thirsty: water would be the one thing on our minds, and our bodies do all they can to find water. We will be satisfied only when we get water. It is the only solution to our thirst.

But thirsting for righteousness? Do I have the "THIRST" for righteousness? Being satisfied only when I do the right thing? That's a question to ask ourselves.

What is "righteousness" anyway? Everyone can have their own definition of righteousness. But where can we learn what righteousness really means? Here comes the "Word of God." It is a guidebook to righteousness. How blessed are we to have not one but multiple copies of the Word of God in our own hands. Many times, I am like a person who reads but does not actually read. I am like what Jesus said:

"Seeing, they do not see; and hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand." - Matthew 13:13

My mind reads without giving a second thought to what it really means. "Did you read the Bible?" is a question we often ask. Since childhood, reading the Bible was something I was supposed to do—more like a habit. But I would say I hadn't truly read the Bible until recently. Maybe we should change our question to "What did you learn from the Bible today?"

What wonders it holds! We have to open not only our eyes but also our hearts to receive the Word of God. So, in order to hunger and thirst for righteousness, we must first know what righteousness is. If we just tell God that we are willing and express even an ounce of thirst, God will fill us with righteousness and help us understand what we read. So the question to ponder is:

"Are our eyes open and our hearts closed?"

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