Bible Readings:
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:1-2,6)
"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. (Isaiah 55:1-2)
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:37-39)
A Reflection
I guess few, if any of us, know what it is to be really hungry. We met up with our daughter and grandchildren in Thetford Forest the other day. It’s a great place to meet outside with children; there is a ‘Sounds trail’ with lots of over-sized, percussion-type instruments, as well as a Gruffalo Trail and a café. We spent a long time going round these and at one point I commented ‘let’s go and get our picnic, I’m starving’. At which point Melody, almost four, asks Helen ‘Nana, what does starving mean?’
Many people around the world will go to bed tonight hungry, and we have a responsibility to help address this through support of charities, missions and food banks. But the hunger that Jesus was talking about here, was not a physical hunger for food, but a spiritual hunger for righteousness.
If righteousness is about being right with God, there is a lot of unrighteousness in the world today, a lot of decisions that are contrary to God’s teaching and a lot of actions that offend God and hurt others. Let us not become indifferent to such things, instead let us pray for righteousness to prevail and let us do what we can in the areas where we have influence.
But perhaps when it comes to hungering and thirsting after righteousness, we should start closer to home. I wonder if there are areas in your life where you have become indifferent to unrighteousness? Have you neglected to feed on God’s word or to drink from the water of the Holy Spirit? Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is a route to blessing!
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, restore in me a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Thank you that, as I seek after you, you satisfy my deepest longings. May the river of your Holy Spirit flow through me and refresh me, and may I be a source of life to others.
Amen
River, wash over me