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TEXT: Matthew 5:6; 5:31-34; Isaiah 55:1-2 For the last 12 weeks or so I’ve been working diligently on exercising and eating well. You’re supposed to do these two things in tandem, but one of the interesting dynamics is that exercise can make you MORE hungry! And so to do the math on lowing the number of calories I eat, but also not walking around hungry all the time, I have to be thoughtful about what I eat. I may crave a bowl of ice cream, but you know what? It does not take the hunger away. Usually some good protein or complex carbs is what will do that. Being thirsty is similar. There’s nothing that quenches thirst quite like water. A soda sure won’t do it; the sugar and caffeine just makes you hungry and thirsty for more! I share all that because in the verse we will focus on today, Jesus talks about being hungry and thirsty for righteousness. ‘Righteousness’ is just a fancy word for what God says is right. And Jesus says being hungry and thirsty for THAT is what is blessed. And the blessing is that we will be truly satisfied. So that’s what I want to talk about today… what we are hungry for and what it means to be truly satisfied. I’ll remind you of the context. Jesus is teaching his followers (that means it’s for us!) on the mountainside, but the crowds that followed him around are not too far away. He is teaching his followers what it is to be blessed and they are supposed to, in turn, go and bless the crowd, their community, the world. So it is with us. Listen today to see how God is blessing you and how you might bless others. That’s our goal! Hungry for What? Jesus uses imagery of food and water, being hungry and thirsty, more than you might realize. Perhaps that’s because both are essential to life, but both can also be mis-used. In several encounters Jesus talks about Living Water and Bread of Life, both in reference to himself and to indicate that there is more to life than where your next meal or drink is going to come from. He tells the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) that he has what she has been seeking… living water. He tells the crowds following him and looking for another miracle that he has – and IS – bread from heaven greater than the miracle of manna during Moses’ time. (John 6) In the passage we heard today from Matthew 6 he says that people worry and get anxious about where their next meal is coming from, or their clothing. Instead of worrying about tomorrow he says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (v.31-34) There’s that word again: righteousness. So what does it mean to seek it? To hunger and thirst for it? ‘Righteousness’ means doing what is right, specifically what God requires. So it is tied to obedience. We discover what God requires by reading and studying His Word and doing what it says to do. I cannot help but recall Micah 6:8 again… “He has told you, O people, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” But in the same breath I say that, perhaps the biggest distinction to make here is that Jesus says we are to hunger for GOD’S righteousness. Not too much further in Matthew (cf. 6:1) he will warn against pursuing our own righteousness: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.” Jesus seems clear that the point of obeying God is not to make ourselves look good, but to share in God’s goodness. And that is the essence of blessing! Blessing is sharing in God’s goodness by desiring and following God’s Word and will. Truly Satisfied And here’s the blessing: if you hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness, if you seek first what God says is good and right, you will be truly satisfied. We settle for lesser satisfactions. In fact, some theologians claim that many of the things we might describe as sinful behaviors – lust, g