HUNGRY AND THIRSTY HEARTS (1)

“BLESSED are you who HUNGER now, for you shall be FILLED” – Luke 6:21a

Blessed Hearts are HUNGRY and THIRSTY HEARTS: “BLESSED are you who HUNGER now, for you shall be FILLED” (Lk.6:21a). Luke 6 is a reduced version of the fuller Matthew 5 list of Beatitudes, but conveying the same essence. Hunger is a desperate desire, strong craving and urgent longing, displaying dire need for food or a specific nutrient; an uneasy sensation or weakened condition occasioned by prolonged lack of food. Thirst is a similar craving or need for water to refresh a dehydrating soul. In reality, hunger and thirst are not just for food and water, but could be craving for physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual nourishment. Humans are creatures of need – needy beings. In addition to food and water, we need many more things to live well: money, job, love, wisdom, knowledge, skills, security, achievements, approval, and fulfilment….an inexhaustible list! Above all, we need God!

Hunger and Thirst are both appetites that could border on desperate, life-or-death situations. Stories abound of people who endured mass hunger in war-torn zones and of how men would travel to nearby farms to exchange their household possessions for food! Emaciated by hunger, the vulnerable elderly and children faint and fall in the city streets. Hunger and thirst of the spirit are more real! In physical hunger, we feel discomfort or weakness caused by a lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat. In spiritual hunger, likewise, we crave “food” for the spirit, without which one may not survive! Just as hunger of our body drives us to eat physical food, hunger of our spirit propels us to feed on spiritual food. The Word of God is the best spiritual nourishment for our soul-spirit: “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet.2:2).

Our Lord Jesus was no stranger to hunger: Having “fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward HE WAS HUNGRY” (Mt.4:2). Also, while on the cross, “Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I THIRST” (Jh.19:28). Jesus relates to physical and spiritual hunger and thirst. He knows what it means to have hungry and thirsty hearts; and that only the heavenly Manna and the Water of Life, which He alone provides, can satisfy the deeper longings of the heart!

Jesus miraculously multiplied food to feed hungry multitudes (Mt.14:13-21; Mk. 6:31-44; Lk. 9:12-17; Jh.6:1-14). To His disciples, He said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (Jh.4:34). He enlightened those who were engrossed with gluttony: “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him” (Jh.6:27). He finally introduced Himself as the Ultimate Menu: “I am the BREAD of LIFE. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (Jh.6:34-35).

God's Word abounds with trustworthy promises of blessings for the hungry and thirsty. These are not the empty promises of mortals, but promises that we can lean on and never be disappointed! Eating the junk food of the self-centred life will never bring satisfaction. Thankfully, we have easy access to the Bible, the written Word of the Lord. So when we are hungry and thirsty, we need not travel far or spend beyond our means; we only need to prayerfully turn to God’s Word for comfort, direction, succour, and solace.

Our Lord Jesus Christ invites us to hunger and thirst for: Himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit; His Word; and His Kingdom and Righteousness. In the coming days, we shall endeavour to meditate more deeply on these dimensions of Hungry and Thirsty Hearts. As we abide in God and His Word abides in us, the Holy Spirit will guard our heart’s appetites, cultivate and satisfy in us, hunger and thirst for Him and for eternal things, and enable us to commit to right response – not just right opinion – to His Word and Will!