Matthew 5:6 Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they will be filled. (HCSB) Have you ever been desperate for anything? Desperate like, if it does not happen you will die! Desperate like, if it does not happen you will be destroyed! Desperate like your life depended on it! Most of us would stay no. Honestly, when is the last time you needed something to happen so bad that if it did not you would die?? We live in a society where we glorify excess. Our new god in America is excess. Desperation if not wishing you had DQ but no way to get there. Jesus tells the "crowd" that has come to see Him do amazing miracles; "Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they will be filled." Hunger and thirst? Really? Jesus is telling those who say they are following Him that only those who are desperate for Him (righteousness) will be filled. The image of hungering and thirsting, is that of one who is about to die if they do not receive what they need. Not, "I need another Twinkie!!" But that of I am in desperate need or my life will end. Let that sink in. Jesus is calling disciples that have no other means of survival. Disciples that will surrender their lives to a point that He is the very air they breath. Disciples that are so dependant on Him that if He ceases to exist they die! Not their job, families, or even retirements. Jesus calls us to be so dependant on Him that we would otherwise die. If you are in desperation, you are dependant on someone else because your own ability has failed. Jesus is also saying righteousness is the only thing that will meet the demand. "For they will be filled" Filled with what? What they need in order to survive. Jesus is saying the disciple is so hungry, so thirst, that all they think about is righteousness. Every thought, every action of that person is to be satisfied with righteousness. I want you to notice this: In John 6, Jesus says to the crowd, "I assure you: Moses didn't give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from heaven." Then in verse 35 He says something interesting, "I am the bread of life," Jesus told them. "No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again." Jesus says His disciples will starve for righteousness and the only thing that can fill them is that righteousness and now says I am what you have been hungering for and thirsting for! Let me put this together, Jesus is pure righteousness, those who are desperate for righteousness can only be filled with Jesus or they will be finished (die). That is the position Jesus wants His followers to be in, totally dependant on Him. Jesus in not asking to be "a part" of your life, His is demanding to be your life. Then you will be filled.

Are you desperate for Jesus? Desperate like your life depends on Him, because it does.