Saturday, July 20, 2013

By: Gwen Hitt

 

Day 5: The Beatitudes "Blessed are the Meek"

 

Are You FULL?

 

Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

   

When my husband asked my dad for my hand in marriage, my dad said something that we have laughed about for almost 40 years. He told my husband, "Just make sure you always have food for her!" I have jokingly reminded Craig over the years that he obeyed my dad TOO well .... LOL!!!

 

Although we have all chuckled over my dad's request, I believe that his words (the words of a loving Earthly father) are very similar to the words of our Heavenly Father in today's verse.

 

My dad was concerned about my physical needs - he wanted to ensure that I would never hunger for food. On the other hand, our Heavenly Father understood that He had created us with a hunger and thirst for righteousness that could only be satisfied through a closer relationship with Him. Through my research of the word "righteousness," I came across the following statement: "Righteousness is best understood as the product of upright, moral action in accordance with some form of divine plan."

 

When teaching my students a new vocabulary word, I would often instruct them to substitute the word in a sentence with its definition to truly grasp the meaning. When I read the statement above, I decided to utilize this strategy. The result truly opened my eyes to what God is promising us in today's verse.....

 

***Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for living uprightly by ensuring that their actions are in line with God's Word, for they will have FULL lives.

 

My challenge to you is to live an upright life using God's Word as your compass when navigating through the EASY and DIFFICULT decisions that you will face each and everyday. By doing so, you have been promised to be BLESSED abundantly by the ONE who has described His plans for His creation in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

 

Dear Lord, I am told in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." In the preceding verse, You tell me that "these things" are your provision of food, drink, and clothes. I thank You for always providing for me what I require AND for satisfying my greatest need ..... the unquenchable hunger and thirst that I have for You!

 

I thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.