WHAT ARE YOU CRAVING?

February 17, 2023

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6

1. COME HUNGRY. I remember my mother-in-law, who was very hospitable and an excellent cook, would invite us over to dinner, and she’d say, come hungry. In this verse, Jesus is saying the same to us, come hungry! He is telling us that there is blessing found in hungering and thirsting for God – that is where we will be satisfied; that is where we will have our needs met.

2. GET HYDRATED. “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink’” (John 7:37). He was making a parallel point to people that lived in an arid desert-type environment and would really be aware of thirst. He didn’t have a pallet of spring water on Him but was using that as an example to talk about the Holy Spirit: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38).

3. DON’T SPOIL YOUR APPETITE. We all have appetites and cravings. Some of them are good and drive us to eat right or gain knowledge. Some of them aren’t right, and they become imbalanced, like lust or overeating. I want to be hungry for God, and I don’t want to imbibe on stuff that pulls me away from that and ruins my appetite for Him. There is only so much capacity in our human existence, and I don’t want to fill it with the wrong stuff. Pleasure, popularity, prestigious titles, and material comforts – That stuff can have its place, but it won’t satisfy like Jesus can.

Press on,
Pastor Jeff Perry

DAILY CONFESSION:
I long for God’s Word (Psalm 119:40). I am blessed, joyful, and nourished by God’s goodness as I hunger and thirst for righteousness and actively seek right standing with God, for I know I will be completely satisfied (Matthew 5:6 AMP).

sat•is•fy, verb 
To fulfill the desires, expectations, needs, or demands of; make content. To put an end to (a desire, want, need, etc.) by sufficient or ample provision. To discharge fully (a debt, obligation, etc.).

^{Copyright © 2023 St. Louis Family Church, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. “satisfy.” Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, K Dictionaries Ltd., Random House, Inc. Accessed 15 Feb. 2023 https://www.thefreedictionary.com/satisfy}.