It’s Friday. . .Fulfillment Is Inevitable

The Summer Olympic Games of 2020 have finally come and gone. For many Olympic athletes, they stood on the medal stand and listened to their national anthem. Years of hard work and dedication rewarded with medals and honor. Analysts can point to various reasons why these athletes won – their technique, their physical attributes, their perseverance – but there was one larger reason underlying them all. They were victorious because they had spent their lives hungering for it.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)

To a very large degree, we will be defined and directed by our hungers in life. It is true, we are pointed in the direction of our desires. They motivate us, determine our focus, and keep us going when we’re tempted to lose heart. They turn our face toward a goal, and we generally grow in the direction we’re facing.

That’s why Jesus blesses us if we hunger and thirst for His righteousness – for ourselves and for the world. Yes, that’s the direction we will grow in. But unlike an Olympic athlete – or anyone else who desires something strongly and expends a lot of effort for it – we don’t get it by hard work. No doubt, we must seek it and be persistent in our desire, and we must cooperate with God in His work in us and through us, but in a very real sense, this attribute can only be given. We hunger, we thirst, and He fills.

We’re different than an Olympic athlete in another regard too: we don’t have to worry about whether we will achieve the goal. That’s the promise of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:6. He doesn’t say those who hunger and thirst for righteousness might be filled. It’s definite. This goal is not beyond our reach because it’s up to Him, and everything is within His reach. For those of us who hunger for His best, that’s extremely good news. The end of our search is not futility and frustration. Fulfillment Is Inevitable. We will be rewarded, because our hunger is driven by Him, and headed in exactly the right direction.

Have a satisfying weekend. Make it better by worshiping The Lord with those who know the heartbeat of God and are driven by His appetite for His best, and only.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)