How to Find True Joy and Satisfaction When You Thirst For Righteousness

True blessedness, defined as being satisfied, secure, and full of joy, is achieved not by the world’s standards, but through seeking a specific spiritual hunger. While the world might claim blessedness belongs to the rich, powerful, handsome, or influential, Jesus Christ teaches that true fulfillment is found in Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled”.

This message aims to create a hunger for something truly needed, something one cannot live without: righteousness. If this hunger is pursued, satisfaction is guaranteed.

1. Understanding Righteousness: It’s Not What You Do, It’s Who You Know

When discussing righteousness, it is crucial to understand that in the Bible, righteousness is wrapped up in a Person: Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures confirm that Jesus Christ “is made righteousness for us”. Therefore, when a person hungers and thirsts after righteousness, they are fundamentally hungering and thirsting after Jesus Christ Himself. The deepest need of life is establishing a right relationship with God through Christ.

2. Seeking Jesus Christ Preeminently: Setting Your Priorities

To find satisfaction, you must desire Jesus Christ preeminently, meaning above all other things.

The World’s Hunger vs. God’s Priority

The business of Madison Avenue is to create artificial hungers, leading people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, to impress people they don’t like. This contrasts with the Holy Spirit, who wants to create a hunger for what is desperately needed: Jesus Christ.

Jesus addressed the pursuit of earthly needs (food, fashion, fitness) and commanded a specific priority: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,” promising that all these other things will be added. While physical things are not wrong in their place, their place is second place. God will not take second place to anybody or anything.

Symptoms vs. Remedy

Most people seek blessedness (happiness or satisfaction) directly, but by wanting satisfaction, they fail to get it. A lack of peace, joy, or fulfillment is merely a symptom. Seeking only happiness is like going to a doctor who only treats the pain with a sedative without dealing with the underlying disease or infection. Symptoms are “God-given” indicators that something is wrong and needs to be fixed.

The fundamental problem of humanity is unrighteousness, which produces all other issues. Therefore, satisfaction cannot be found until ambitions are brought into a “burning focus” to seek Jesus Christ, who is the remedy.

Jesus: A Necessity, Not a Luxury

In the natural realm, food and water are necessities; without them, one dies. Similarly, in the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ is not a luxury, but a necessity.

When you seek righteousness, you are seeking everything you will ever need spiritually, as Jesus Christ is Heaven’s bread for man’s deepest hunger. The fullness of God dwells in Him, and therefore, when a believer receives Jesus, they receive everything.

Jesus is described as the Alpha and Omega (A and Z). Just as all truth and wisdom in a library are contained within the 26 letters of the alphabet, all the wisdom of God is contained in Jesus. The rest of life is spent learning more and more about Christ, which can be seen as discovering what was received when He was first sought.

3. Seeking Jesus Christ Passionately: The Marks of True Hunger

You must seek Jesus not only preeminently but also passionately. This passionate pursuit is illustrated by the depth of genuine hunger and thirst.

The marks of a person who is truly hungry (seeing themselves as broken and famished) are demonstrated by a quest that is:

A. A Deliberate Quest

A starving person’s focus is narrow; they are only interested in food and water. They are not distracted by social events or trivial matters. If people attend church and their minds are in a “thousand different places,” it indicates they are not hungry, lacking deliberation or determination.

B. A Determined Quest

A determined person has “set his face” and is committed to being fed. Those who are not hungry often come to church cross-armed, mentally arguing with the sermon, saying, “Yes, but,” or claiming that if God wants to save them, He can. A truly thirsty person will pay a price for what they need.

C. A Desperate Quest

A desperate person will go anywhere, do anything, and pay almost any price for food, losing their pride. They might eat out of garbage cans or rummage through trash.

The truly hungry soul does not come to find fault. People who criticize the damp salt, chipped china, or wrinkly tablecloth are demonstrably not hungry. Your satisfaction depends entirely upon the appetite you bring. If you come to find Jesus, “He’s here”.

The Danger of Being “Full”

A lack of spiritual hunger often means a person is either sick or “stuffed full of something else,” feeding on the world’s garbage. As Proverbs 27:7 says, “The full soul loatheth a honeycomb,” meaning that if you are full, even the sweetness of honey does not appeal. However, to the hungry soul, “every bitter thing is sweet”.