"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness; for they shall be filled."

                                                                           Matthew 5:6

            I remember reading after John G. Lake where he mentioned that there is an ultimate note in the heart of every believer - a note so high and holy that only a few dare reach it. Every time I find myself wanting more, I remind myself of this ultimate note, and suddenly I know within myself that it is not simply a place one can reach out and touch, as if it is right in front of them. It's a journey that requires much of us - in fact all of us! It is not an easy path, nor is it a path easy to find.

How does one go about finding this ultimate note? And what exactly is it that we are looking for? I believe Jesus gave us the answer. In John chapter seven, he said, "If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. [But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified]" (John 7:37-39).   There is something about being thirsty that makes a person do things that normally they might not do. Jesus tells us that drinking is precipitated by being thirsty, and that when a person begins to drink what he offers then something on the inside is going to erupt - something deep within is not only going to satisfy that thirst, but it is going to break out into rivers of living water. I believe that this eruption carries within it the sound of this ultimate note.

          Notice again this text scripture recorded in the beatitudes: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness; for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6).   There is something here that we need to understand. First of all, if we assume that Jesus is referring to righteousness as taught by the Apostle Paul, then we have a problem. Paul's teaching clearly points out that righteousness is a position in Christ that we obtain through faith. No amount of hungering or thirsting for this will make a person righteous. They have to believe in the finished work of Christ and acknowledge him as their Lord and Savior to become righteous. It does not come by a person's works or their effort. It is based on what Jesus did for them.

Secondly, righteousness is not something that is measureable. The fact that Jesus says "they shall be filled," implies that it is measureable. But righteousness, as far as a position is concerned, is not measureable. You don't become righteous by degree. You either are or you are not righteous. You are either in Christ or you are without Christ.

          So, what then was Jesus referring to? He was talking about righteousness in a moral sense. The Lord spoke to my heart years ago and said, "If you are going to accept the position that righteousness provides, then you must assume the responsibility that righteousness demands." Although righteousness is a position, there also comes with that position the responsibility of living right! So, from this standpoint we could read it as such: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst to be right, do right, want things right in their life, to have things right in their life, to be absorbed with the right things in life; and most importantly, to be right on track with the things of God! When this becomes your passion and you are filled to overflow with the rightness of God, then you will reach the ultimate note -- your life will harmonize with heaven, and just like it was on the Day of Pentecost there will be a sound of a rushing mighty wind echoing through your soul. It will be the sound, the ultimate note of one sold out and saturated with the Spirit of the Living God!