THE BEATITUDES (10)

TOPIC: THE BEATITUDES (10)
TEXT: MATTHEW 5:1-12
MEMORY VERSE: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (satisfied).” ” – Matthew 5:6

Yesterday, we performed an honest examination of our spiritual lives, today, let us look at what is lacking in our relationship with God. Does this honest examination convince us that we do not hunger and thirst after righteousness as we should? What can be done to help us have hungry hearts? One useful plan is to work our way through the first three beatitudes. If we recognize our deep spiritual need (the first beatitude), we will be filled with profound sorrow (the second beatitude), and we will be ready and anxious to yield ourselves to God and His will (the third beatitude). Surely, this will make us cry out, “God, I want You in my life. I want more of You. I need You in my life. Please, tell me what to do, and I will do it!” This is hungering and thirsting after righteousness (the fourth beatitude).

If we do not have healthy spiritual appetites, what can we do? Again, an important goal for Christians is to develop—with the help of God—the attributes described in the first three beatitudes. To do this, we can use techniques similar to those used to improve physical appetites.

(1) Recognize the need for spiritual nourishment. In the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus said, “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied” (Luke 6:21a). Then He added, “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry” (v. 25a). In other words, “Woe to you who feel no spiritual hunger, for you shall stand before God spiritually starved!” Take care that you do not become like the Laodiceans who said they had “need of nothing” (Revelation 3:17).

(2) Develop an appreciation for spiritual nourishment. Is there some physical food you enjoy now that you did not enjoy the first time you ate it? Perhaps you had parents who insisted you eat it, so you gradually learned to like it. Perhaps, as an adult, you discovered you needed certain foods for good health and have persisted in eating them until you now enjoy them. Even as we can develop an appreciation for physical food, so we can develop an appreciation for spiritual food.

(3) Improve your spiritual appetite by spiritual exercise. Nothing makes food taste better than a hard day of physical labour. Even so, spiritual exercise will make us long for and enjoy spiritual food. Paul told Timothy, “Exercise thyself . . . unto godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7,8).

We shall consider the remaining three techniques to improve our appetites for the things of God tomorrow.

“Where hunger for God’s Word is lacking, the primary fault is not with the speaker, but with the hearer.”

Central Truth