Hunger for Righteousness

Matthew 5:6 (NKJV) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

Today there are many things on the market that say they are food but they are so filled with preservatives and other things that while it is listed as food it has very little “food” in it or what food is left it has no nutrition. Yet people are satisfied with it because it “tastes” good and looks good when in fact it has no nutritional value. This kind of food leads to sickness and even death but people still eat it. There is a whole industry built around it. Real food will cost more and it takes more to use it and prepare it but it brings health and provides nutrition that causes growth. Once you begin to understand its value and realize that fast foods and processed foods are not healthy you, you hunger for what is real. The same is true of true righteousness that flows from God and is worked out in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Righteousness can be the same way. There is a lot out there that is seen and called righteousness but there is nothing in it that causes growth. It is preserved by ego and being content with how things look on the outside rather than spiritual health. We are told by Jesus that we are blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness?
We might want to start by what it is not. There are those that are concerned about having righteousness around them. They, like the Pharisee’s are very concerned when someone that looks like a sinner or in their opinion is doing sinful things come near them. It might even be someone that is, in fact, a full blown sinner and there is no doubt as to the fact that they are “unclean.” They don’t want people or things that they don’t like in their near proximity. They want only “righteousness” around them. They grab up their things and avoid these people at all costs. They look at them with suspicion and even fear if they look at them at all.
Too often we only want to have righteousness around us because then we feel comfortable. That way there is nothing out of the ordinary. Everything “looks” good…including us. We also don’t have to do anything or say anything and at the same time we can be quick to point out and condemn anything we don't like or makes us uncomfortable. We do not want to be confronted by things we don’t like or things we don’t approve of. Having everything around us appear to be righteous will also give the illusion that we, ourselves are righteous so we can hide our secret sin. There are times when I can hide my judgmental spirit behind a desire for righteousness. But hungering and thirsting for righteousness is not about what is in others or how things appear but it means that you want it for yourself.
To hunger and thirst after righteousness means to have a starving, thirsty spirit in your own heart. It is a real hunger and starvation of soul. It means that your spirit longs for the righteousness of God to be worked out in your own life. But there is something more about it that needs to be understood. The hunger is for all righteousness. This hunger wants righteousness in every way and doesn’t pick and choose what it wants. It does not deem some righteousness palatable and other righteousness, well questionable. This hunger is not like the person that feels a little hungry and goes to the refrigerator and stands there, looking at all the food and then closes the door and says, “There is nothing in here to eat.” No this type of hunger means that it is a craving for righteousness. It wants to eat the whole thing. It is not satisfied with righteousness in tidbits. It does not pick and choose what righteousness it wants. It is not satisfied with things that look like righteousness but are not. It wants true righteousness.
In the Bible “righteousness” means two simple but profound things; it has a double meaning. It means to be right and to do right. It may be said another way: to be good and to do good. We cannot be good without doing good but doing good without being good has no value.
How then can a man become perfectly righteous? The answer is what Christ says: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” What happens is this. God takes a person’s “hunger and thirst after righteousness” and counts it as righteousness. The person is not righteous, but God counts him righteous. This is the great love of God. A man hungers and thirsts after righteousness; therefore, God fills him. Now one might argue that they do want righteousness but they point more to the unrighteousness of others rather than seeking true righteousness in their own lives. They are like Simon the Pharisee that thought less of Jesus because Jesus allowed a woman to touch Him. Not just any woman but one that Simon judged a sinner by her appearance. He may have even knew her by her reputation but he could not see any way that she could ever be fit for God. Jesus, on the other hand was more concerned about the heart rather than the outward appearance. On the outside Simon looked righteous and the woman a sinner but to Jesus the woman‘s heart was seen, not by her outward appearance but how she showed her love to Jesus. The same was true of Simon. His heart was shown by his lack of giving to Jesus even the common courtesy given to strangers. The woman came in faith that Jesus would forgive her and Simon lacked faith and did not see his own need of Jesus in any way. The Bible uses the word faith to explain righteousness. Faith is believing God and trusting Him to take our faith and count it as righteousness. Hebrews 11:6 says it clearly: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” That faith will result in a righteousness that begins to take place in every part of our life without our working at it. It will just happen.
Righteousness, the kind we must hunger for, involves the mind. Scripture says it involves being “renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Ephes. 4:23), and being “renewed in knowledge” (Col. 3:10).This means that the person who seeks after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” He “puts on the new man” and is “renewed in the spirit of [his] mind” (Ephes. 4:23). It means that the person who seeks after God has “put off the old man with his deeds; and [has] put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:9-10).
The Pharisees did not seek after God’s righteousness they sought after their own. They were more concerned about the outside than the inside. They thought that pleased God when in fact they only pleased themselves. But Jesus said that our righteousness was to exceed theirs! Jesus called them whitewashed sepulchers, filled with dead men’s bones. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27-28) The Pharisee’s and the hypocrite disguise inner decay with an outward show of righteousness. They are very careful how they look on the outside but on the inside they have all the corruption of the sin that they hold on to. How does this apply to us? Let's consider a few things:
On the outside – we are still going to church...making a sure we can say point to our church attendance as a proof of our righteousness
On the inside we are still living to ourselves during the week.
On the outside - we may profess to be a Christian
On the inside -We are still living and thinking like an unbeliever.
On the outside -we may give thanks as a family at meals,
On the inside we are ungrateful and covetous of what others have. We are unsatisfied with the blessings God has already given us.
On the outside - we may agree with justice and mercy,
On the inside we are unforgiving and judgmental towards others in the church
On the outside we quote the word of God and say we believe it
On the inside we refuse to obey it, question it and don’t really live it.
On the outside we may walk humbly before our peers,
On the inside we are full of pride, criticism and self righteousness.
On the outside we are very generous and giving, towards God and others
On the inside we see it as a proof of our righteousness. We don’t give as an act or worship but as a proof of righteousness.
We often forget that even though Jesus spoke against the outward sins that people see as so terrible but He spoke just as strongly the inward sins of the spirit such as pride and greed, a judgmental heart or despising others because they don’t meet OUR standards of righteousness. Jesus spoke most harshly against those that trusted in their own righteousness and so easily judged others and brought them into condemnation. Instead of drawing them to God they force them away with blame and disapproval. The disapproval is theirs, not God’s. It is interesting that Jesus, who was perfect in His righteousness, was compassionate and caring. He did not wink at sin and did not ignore it, He simply told those that were bound to walk in freedom. That freedom, as well as righteousness, is found in trusting Jesus. To trust in our own righteousness is to not trust in His.