Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness 饥渴慕义
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Author: Rev Paul Tong
Are you happy? Are you satisfied? Happiness or satisfaction is a feeling from the heart that may not necessarily be derived from your social status, material possessions, or any other physical wealth. However, the Bible gives us the promise that our thirst and hunger can be satisfied if we desire and pursue the righteousness of God.
There can be no satisfaction for our inner thirst apart from knowing God. Ecclesiastes reminds us of this. Let me rewrite Ecclesiastes’ message in a modern way:
I (Solomon) thought to my heart, “Come on and let me give a try to satisfy myself” I tried to cheer myself with wine, but feel foolish. I let my mind be guided by wisdom, but in the end, it was empty; I had also used tasty food, beautiful women, wonderful dances, and performances to entertain myself. However, all these never satisfy me but make me feel bored at the end. Vanity of vanities. Where do I go to find permanent happiness?
God places conscience, i.e., the perception and awakening of eternity, into people’s heart (ref. Ecclesiastes 3: 11). Therefore, we can never be satisfied with the wonderful but temporal things that we experience on earth. In fact, the more one obtains, the more hollow one will feel.
John 4: 7-30 recounts that Jesus once shared the gospel with a Samaritan woman. He used “thirst” and “water” to imply that one needed to continuously satisfy his or her thirst, whether it is bodily or sexual, and it would not end. Then, Jesus offered the woman the living water: “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 2:14). After the conversation, we see a transformation happening in her life within a day. She desired living water. Joy was like living water flowing out of her heart. Her motivation for life was changed – she became so eager to witness for Jesus to the point that she led many people to Christ within a few days.
The Samaritan woman became:
1. thirsty for living water, i.e., desiring God's righteousness to be fulfilled in her through faith;
2. thirsty to bear witness for Jesus, i.e., desiring God's righteousness to be fulfilled in others through witnessing.
Our heavenly Father knows your needs. He will give you what you ask for and the greatest thing that He wants to give you is the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:11-13).
May you receive the Holy Spirit and be filled with Him！
“饥渴慕义的人有福了！因为他们必得饱足”
作者：董明汉牧师
你快乐吗？你感到满足吗？快乐或是满足，都是发自内心的一种感觉，而这种幸福感，不一定是来自你的社会地位，你所拥有的财产，或是任何物质上的富裕。但是，圣经给我们这样的应许：如果我们渴望并追求从神来的义，这种的饥渴感，就能得到满足。
旧约的传道书，提醒我们，如果我们远离神，我们内在的饥渴是无法满足的。若我以现代的方式重写传道书的信息，大概是这样：
“我(所罗门)对自己说，‘现在来，让我对自己的生命作个实验。’我就以酒为己加油，但感觉这很愚蠢。我让思想被智慧引导，但到最后，还是一场空。我尽情的享受美酒，美食，美女，美好舞姿，美好的演出，娱乐节目等，来自我消遣一番。但却是看也看不饱，玩也玩不够，吃多了会腻。虚空的虚空啊。我去那里找永久的快乐呢？”
神把那对永恒有感悟和觉醒的良心，放在人里头。叫人在地上所经历的短暂性美好，都不会感到满足。相反的，当得到以后，你会堕入一种更加虚空的无奈。
约翰福音 4：7-30, 叙述了耶稣曾经与一个撒玛利亚妇人分享福音。在谈话中，耶稣用“口渴”和“水”来表达一个人，无论是身体的渴，或是性欲的需要，都要不断的去满足它，但这种饥渴永远不会结束，永远不会满足。
耶稣对撒玛利亚妇人说：“谁喝我所赐的水，就永远不渴。我所赐的水要在他里面成为泉源，直涌到永生。”（约 2:14）。谈话结束之后，我们看到撒玛利亚妇人在一天之内发生了转变：她变得渴望活水，她的快乐就像活水那样，从她心中流出来。她的生活的动机，也发生了变化 - 她变得非常渴望为耶稣作见证，以致她在几天之内带领了许多人归向基督。
撒玛利亚妇人的生命起来转变。她变得：
1. 渴慕活水 --“渴慕神的义成就在自己的身上”，
2. 渴慕为耶稣作见证-“渴慕神的义成就在别人的身上。
我们在天上的父，知道我们的需要，祂也会赐给我们所需要的，而最大最重要他要给于我们的，就是圣灵（路 11：11-13）。
愿你领受神所赐的圣灵，并被祂充满。