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The beatitudes present a totally new way to live; a very different understanding of how you and I can be blessed—be happy and contented. For example, consider this beatitude:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6).
When you first read this, you may think this is meant for really religious people who spend all their time reading the Bible and praying. But righteousness just means being in complete accordance with what is just, honorable, and godly. It simply means doing what is right, thinking what is right, having a right attitude.
So, if you want to be blessed—happy and contented—you get there by hungering and thirsting for that kind of righteousness in your life. Hunger and thirst are appetites that return frequently and have to be met often during the day. Likewise the true believer in Jesus Christ needs that constant, abiding desire for “meals” of righteousness. Living like this—hungering for righteousness—is what brings true fulfillment. This is living without regrets, without guilt, without envy or bitterness.
David wrote: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1-2). David was a man after God’s heart, and this is the reason. In spite of his failures and mistakes, David wanted to know God in a personal, powerful way. He wrote again in Psalm 27:8: “My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
These words reach into my soul, as I ask myself how really hungry and thirsty I am for righteousness. You know, your lifestyles and habits reveal what you hunger for. Look where you spend most of your time. Look at what you do with your leisure time. Look at how you spend your money. Look at who you most want to be with. That’s one way to measure your hunger and thirst for righteousness.