Do you ever get hungry for something particular? Like your favorite take-out? Or maybe something your Mom used to make for you when you were a kid? Or if you’re like me, every once in a while, do you get hungry for a steak? Seasoned and cooked just right on the grill?
It’s not very often I crave a steak, but there are times when nothing else will do. And when those times hit and I eat one, I am satisfied. Full. Content. Happy.
When I’m craving a steak and the hunger pangs hit, that is all that’s on my mind. And when I eat something besides a steak, I may get full, but I am not satisfied. Even though I feed my body calories and protein and fat, it’s not what my body wanted and, apparently, needed.
In Matthew 5:6, Jesus tells us that making our relationship with God the focus of our life, hungering and thirsting for right-standing with God, will bring us complete satisfaction.
I love what the Amplified Bible says in Isaiah 55:1 about this subject:
“Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing].”
“Simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing.” I love that. All we have to do to be blessed beyond measure is to surrender our “self”—our self-centeredness, our selfishness, our self-promotion, our self-seeking, our self-focus—and surrender ourselves to the One who knows exactly what we need, has everything we need, and loves us enough to give us what we need.
But there is a catch. We have to admit we have a need we can’t fill on our own. And we have to want God to provide it His way in His time more than anything else. Anything.
A little later in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:33, AMP), Jesus tells us not to worry about food or clothes, or even our life. He says,
“But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”
This “blessed” life that Jesus offers won’t cost you a dime. But it will cost you a lot. In fact, it will cost you everything. Everything else will need to be in second place behind your number one focus of striving after God’s kingdom and His way of doing right and being right.
And what results can you expect from living that kind of life? Well, I’ll let you read them for yourself.
“Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be completely satisfied!” – Matthew 5:6 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Completely satisfied!
I think somebody’s grilling steaks!