YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6 (CSB)

The story is told of the young man who came to Socrates and told him that he wanted knowledge. "Follow me," the philosopher told the student and led him to the edge of the ocean and into the water, without warning Socrates grabbed the young man and plunged him beneath the water and held him there until the struggling stopped. He dragged the boy to the shore, left him gasping on the sand and returned to the marketplace. When the boy recovered he sought out the teacher again and asked him why he tried to drown him. Socrates replied, "When you were under the water what did you want more than anything?" The reply, of course, was "air". And Socrates responded by saying, "When you crave knowledge like you craved air, then you won’t need me or anyone else to guide you."

Once we have recognized our need, (poor in spirit) have repented of our sin, (mourn) and released our lives over to his control, (meek) we are then, and only then, ready to seek genuine and lasting satisfaction.

The first three beatitudes taught us the need for depending completely on God, that we had to empty ourselves. Now, Jesus says, "Now that you’re empty, here’s the starving that satisfies; here’s how to be filled:" "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled or satisfied."

Now, a correct and deep understanding of what Jesus’ is saying here is essential. What exactly does Jesus mean when He says, "hunger and thirst?"

You know, most Americans don’t know what it means to be really hungry. We think hunger is a "Big-Mac Attack," or thirsty is defined in what people will experience to do the “Dew.” But we don’t know what it means to be without food or drink for days on end, and to long for just the tiniest bit of nourishment.

But that’s the kind of hunger & thirst that Jesus is referring to. The sentence structure here denotes an abnormal desire for food and drink. Normally the Greek words used for hunger and thirst are in the genitive case. That refers to possessing a little hunger and a little thirst, thirsting or hungering a bit for something. It’s sort of like the sentiment in the commercial, “I could have had a V-8” It’s saying, “I’ve got a taste for something – on occasion a good steak or perhaps an ice-cold Pepsi.

Many have this type of hunger and thirst in the spiritual arena. Occasionally they enjoy Christian music, attending church, reading a verse or two from the Bible and saying a prayer. On occasion, they have a taste for entertaining thoughts about God.

God uses the verbs for hunger and thirst in Matthew 5:6 in an unusual way. They are in the accusative case. It indicates a hunger and a thirst for the whole thing, not just for a taste or a tidbit – It is a craving and consuming desire that must be filled.

Do you and I experience this same kind of appetite for righteousness? It is this kind of burning desire that Christ speaks about in Matthew 5:6.

Blessed are they who have an all-consuming hunger and a seemingly insatiable thirst for righteousness – to be right and to do right – to experience personally and practically the holiness of God in one’s heart and life.

Consider this thought – “You are what you eat.”

Question – “What have you been hungering for?”

What we put in is what will come out.