What is the hungriest you have ever been? When Christian Herter was running for re-election as Governor of Massachusetts, he campaigned so hard one day that he did not have time to eat. So late that afternoon at a barbecue held in his behalf, he was absolutely famished.
As he stood in the serving line, his stomach growled, and his mouth watered as he eyeballed the chicken waiting for him and the guests. When his turn finally arrived, he held out his plate to the server. But to his dismay, she only put one small piece of chicken on it. So Gov. Herter smiled and politely asked, “Ma’am, I haven’t eaten all day, and I am starving! May I please have a second piece of chicken?” Very curtly, the server replied, “Sorry sir, one piece per person.”
Normally Herter was unpretentious, but he was really hungry! So he decided to use the weight of his office as governor. He leaned forward and in a hushed tone said, “Ma’am, do you know who I am? I am the governor of this state and I want two pieces of chicken.” Without hesitating, she leaned toward him and whispered, “Governor, do you know who I am? I’m the LADY IN CHARGE of dishing out chicken. One per person. Move along!”
What is the hungriest you have ever been? Most of us would find it difficult to name one specific time when we were truly famished, because it’s never happened. We’ve never really experienced starvation. Oh, we may have suffered that growling stomach sensation. But here in America, the land of plenty, our greatest concern is to avoid eating ourselves into an early grave.
Now, I mention that because, when we read what Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, it’s difficult for us to capture the counterintuitive message He was speaking. You see, in the third beatitude, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Here Jesus was acknowledging something that is true about all of us. He was NOT talking about your human body’s need for nutrition. Instead He was targeting the spiritual void in your heart that has been there from the day you were created. Jesus was describing the craving you have for a connection with God that is so strong that (once you realize it), you cannot ignore it or get it off your mind. Instead it must be satisfied!!
You see, Jesus was talking about SOUL FOOD!! And implicitly He said three things:
ALL OF US! Every last one of us! Every person who has ever breathed oxygen on planet Earth was born with an appetite for spiritual things, because God put it in us. It is part of the “created in the image of God” thing. Strategically our Creator planted in our soul the desire to know Him.
It’s something that many try to deny or ignore, but it’s there. It’s the reason why every civilization in history has had some form of religion. There has never yet been a country or a culture full of atheists. You know why? Someone put it this way: “There is a God-shaped hole in our Heart that only God can fill.”
Notice, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” … which implies that we can hunger and thirst for things that are NOT RIGHTEOUS!
Now get this: at birth we all inherited (from Adam and Eve) a sin nature, which is just as real as our God nature. This appetite causes us to have an insatiable hunger and thirst for things that are NOT GOOD. This appetite is what John was talking about in 1 John 2:15, when he said, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world —the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
You see, there is a spiritual battle happening in your soul nonstop! It’s a contest of choosing whether you will submit to God’s will or satisfy your selfish self. It is righteousness versus unrighteousness … good versus evil! Jesus defined it when He said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24)
A poet described our struggle this way:
Two Natures beat within my breast.
One is Cursed, the other is Blessed.
One I Love, the other I Hate.
The one I feed will dominate!
Jesus (in Matthew 5:6) told us that we will be BLESSED if we feed on the right things. There is a positive and a negative there. Jesus implicitly warned that you will NOT BE BLESSED if you fail to feed on the righteousness of God.
But there is a blessing of peace, joy and purpose that comes when you sell out to Jesus and feed on His Word, His will and His way. BLESSING YOU is what God WANTS for you … And it’s what you want FROM Him too, right? To get the blessing, Jesus said you must fix your hunger on the righteous food of God.
That’s what God wants for you and offers to you, on earth as it is in Heaven! God is not a stingy chicken server in a governor’s dinner line! He longs to generously serve blessings on our starving hearts!
Psalm 42:1 says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” That verse pictures a deer that has been on the run for a long stretch in the heat of the day. His tongue is hanging out. He’s short of breath. And his temperature is elevated because he is totally dehydrated. And he comes upon a spring of cool, clear, refreshing water … and his eyes light up because that’s exactly what he most wants and needs. Write out a prayer that affirms the right stuff that your heart should crave.
Confess the things you have been trying to fulfill your spiritual hunger with that are insufficient to fill your “God-shaped void.