“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6 CSB)
Devotional
I’ve stood in front of an open fridge at eleven at night, not actually hungry, scanning the shelves for something to fill a feeling I couldn’t name. Nothing in there ever works. I close the door a few minutes later no more satisfied than when I opened it. Most of us know exactly what it feels like to crave something badly and reach for whatever’s closest instead of what would actually fill us.
The first four Beatitudes have been a kind of emptying. Admitting our poverty. Letting it break us. Loosening our grip. Now Jesus turns to what fills the space that’s left. He blesses the people who crave righteousness, who want to actually live rightly before God, with that same restless urgency. Not a polite interest. A craving.
Here’s where I have to be honest about myself. My appetite usually drifts toward easier things. A scroll through my phone when I should be praying. The quiet pull of being right in an argument instead of being kind. None of it satisfies for long, but it’s available, and craving takes the path of least resistance unless we train it otherwise. We feed ourselves on whatever’s closest, and then we wonder why we’re still hungry.
Jesus doesn’t promise a snack here. He promises being filled. Not a sip, not a taste, but actually satisfied. That kind of fullness only comes from craving him specifically, not the things that look like him from a distance. It’s worth asking what we’re actually hungry for today, because whatever it is, that’s what we’ll end up arranging our lives around.
Reflection
What have I been feeding my hunger with lately? Is it something that actually satisfies, or just something close at hand? I want to notice today what I reach for first when I feel that craving, and ask whether it’s pointing me toward God.
Prayer
Lord, we confess we often settle for whatever’s easiest instead of craving you. Give us a real hunger for your righteousness, not just a passing interest. Fill us in the places we keep trying to fill with lesser things. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Tomorrow the series turns outward, starting with how we treat the people who’ve wronged us.