Hungering for the Righteousness of God | Short Sermon Series
"You are what you eat." Nutritionists tell us that our appetites determine our diet, our diet determines our intake, and our intake determines our health.
"You are what you eat" applies in the spiritual realm as well. Jesus challenges us to look at our spiritual appetite with the penetrating words of the Fourth Beatitude: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).
Physically, we know something is wrong when we have no desire to eat. The same is true spiritually. When we no longer hunger and thirst for time alone with God through Bible reading and prayer, or aren't committed to the worship of God, or fail to get alarmed over our sinful condition and the sin of the world, we see clear signs of spiritual sickness. When we no longer take the appropriate action of developing and deepening our relationship with God, a warning light - like on the dashboard of your car - needs to be illuminated, signaling that something is wrong. We need help.
The action we need to take is to go to the source - the bread of life. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again … I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh" (John 6:35, 51). When we are spiritually hungry we will come to the source of spiritual life - Jesus himself. Our real hunger is for God. Saint Augustine was right when he said: "O God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you."
Jesus' appeal is always personal. He never says, "Come and join the church" or "Come and be baptized" or "Come and give money." He simply says, "Come unto me." When Jesus says, "You will be filled," He means "You will be filled with Jesus himself!"
Sermon Extract from "Sermon: Hungering for the Righteousness of God" by lifeway.com @lifeway