By Brother Stephen Rankin

You’ve been working in the garden on a warm Spring Day, absorbed in digging weeds and turning the soil to get ready for planting. Suddenly, you realize that you’re very thirsty. From that moment, until you are able to stop and get a drink, you can hardly think of anything but your thirst.  

Jesus told the people listening to him that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be happy. Blessed. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that Jesus connects awareness of a need to blessedness. We usually don’t think of the need as a source of happiness. Rather, it’s the satisfaction of that need that produces that sense of satisfaction. On reflection, we realize that Jesus is making a profound point that demands attention. The person who knows her spiritual need is truly the blessed one. It’s like Jesus’ retort to the religious leaders about doctors—”The well don’t need a doctor, only the ill,” Jesus said. The danger is not knowing that you’re ill.

For busy people, the awareness of thirst for God’s righteousness, easily lies buried under a thousand concerns. Sometimes, like the gardener working on a warm Spring Day, we become aware of our thirst. At that very moment, we have the blessed opportunity to draw near to God, who draws near to us.

There is nothing like a glass of cold, clear water on a warm day when you’ve been working hard and need a drink. And there’s nothing better than knowing our need for God’s righteousness. Know your need! And know that Christ is faithful to fulfill his promise: “They will be filled.”