Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Sabbath, January 6, 2018

Audio Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/reachmanyradio/thoughts-in-worship-01-06-2018

This is devotional thought number 41 in our devotional series, God’s Promises are Sure!

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6).

Have you ever been hungry? When I say hungry, I am not asking if you’ve missed a meal or two, and your belly grumbled a bit. I am asking if you have been hungry, low on nutrition, and wondering where your next meal would come from. I have fasted more than three weeks at a time, and can say I have never been truly hungry. Have you ever been thirsty? When I say thirsty, I am not talking about missing a few cups of your favorite beverage and wishing you could have more. I have experienced true thirst a few times. Once, I was cycling in rural West Virginia in the summer. On a 20 plus mile ride in the summer, I thought I had prepared enough water, etc., but grossly underestimated the hills and sun. By the time I arrived home, I was severely dehydrated and teetering on the edge of heat exhaustion and loss of consciousness. I was thirsty. On another occasion, I was fasting and went to a secluded beach in the Caribbean to pray. I had plenty of water, and when I had finished praying and my water supply was low, I got in my SUV to go home. There was one problem: My truck was stuck in loose sand, and I was miles away from help. I prayed, dug, tried, dug, prayed, etc. Meanwhile I became dehydrated and my energy stores were depleted. I was thirsty. The Lord helped me get through it and I am alive to tell the story.

While I am not fully qualified to identify with the desperation of one who has been truly hungry, and have had only a few times of life-threatening thirst, I think I get where Jesus is coming from. Those who are so hungry and thirsty for the power to live righteously, that they feel like their lives depend upon it, they will be filled. The thing about this is that we do not generate hunger or thirst. We become such based upon a need. A lack of balanced nutrition (not necessarily belly filling bulk) causes the hypothalamus to signal hunger. An imbalance of certain minerals, etc. in our cells and a dearth of appropriate fluids, signals multiple organs that we are dehydrated, even when we cannot sense a thirst response. Our bodies suffer when we are thirsty.

Likewise, our need for holiness and our response to that need should drive us to the only Source to fulfill the need - Jesus Christ. We must not succumb to the empty calories of spiritual belly bloating counterfeits like addictions, unholy relationships, self-righteousness and the like. These cannot fill us. We must not succumb to the sugar or chemical ridden counterfeits for spiritual hydration of evil entertainments, unhealthy attachments to people, codependency, or money chasing.These cannot hydrate our souls. Jesus said that those who eat and drink of Him will never hunger or thirst again. Isaiah said that God welcomes us to buy our sustenance without money and without cost. God provides all we need freely.

If you are really hungry and thirsty after righteousness, recognizing that you cannot fulfill your own needs, cry out to your God, and He will full you to overflowing. And when He does this for you daily, share some of the overflow with others so they can go to God and be filled too. God never disappoints the hungering soul who is willing to receive what He has to offer. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.—L. David Harris (www.LDavidHarris.com)